Not Our First Barbeque
by Eternal Density
Summary: He barbequed with beer, she with her mind. He killed evil aliens, she was an evil alien who killed. But now they are younger, and he was born parentless, but she is fatherless and yet to be born. A story of advanced humans in high-school. MiniJack/Adria
1. Falling Backward

Not Our First Barbeque

Spoiler Warnings: Pretty much everything to do with ascended beings, including much of season 10, and Ark of Truth. Also for Fragile Balance.

Parings: the only serious ship is hopefully completely original

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate:SG-1, clones, or ascended/descended beings, nor do I make any money from them.

And now, the first chapter.

Chapter 1 - Falling Backward

It was impossible to determine how much time had passed. Time ebbed and flowed with the pulsing of the potentially eternal battle. It was her greatest hope that it would not eternally continue. Immortal combat was rather boring and not at all fulfilling. However, there did not seem to be any potential for escape. The energy which comprised the evil one was locked in synchronisation with her own, counteracting any move she attempted.

Energy. That was they key. As an ascended being, she was 'fair game' to her ascended opponent, but if she allowed herself to return to the mortal plane, the evil one had no right to interfere. Existence as a lower being was nothing compared to the state she considered to be godhood, but it was significantly more interesting that this limbo state of constant celestial clashing.

As soon – relatively speaking - as she had formed this idea, she allowed a small portion of her energy – her self – to channel towards the realm beneath. Movement in this direction had not been anticipated, so her adversary could not compensate. Morgan performed the ascended equivalent of throwing a punch at empty air and falling in a surprised heap. The lone Ori – now briefly freed – took this chance to consider her options with complete clarity.

There would be very little of value to which she could return. Her Priors and followers had been brainwashed by evil. Reclaiming her power would be a long and arduous task. Thanks to the interference of SG-1 and Morgan, her empire had fallen and most of her power was gone. Even if she succeeded in escaping from her captor, it was too late to... hmm, too late. That was it!

As she continued to push herself away from her captor and from the ascended plane, she gathered her remaining strength and reached for the past. It was the perfect plan. She would return to Earth long before SG-1 had discovered the Ori, get rid of them, and contact the Ori herself. She could even find a way to access the knowledge of the Sangraal, now that she knew exactly how Morgan had hidden Merlin. With the knowledge – or a convenient slave holding the knowledge – she could destroy the evil ones before they had a chance to help SG-1. And she could destroy the rest of the Ori too, if she wanted.

Since she was still a mostly ascended being in a rather high plane, warping time and space was not impossible. However, it did demand a great deal of attention. More than she could afford. Morgan took advantage of her distraction and lashed out with precision. The escapee felt herself spinning off course, as well as the stinging wound of a loss of a part of her energy. She righted herself and continued on the path she had determined. Morgan reached out to grab her, but she slipped away, being already past half way descended.

Adria struggled towards her destination, as Morgan LeFaye did her best to prevent the escape by caging her as before. It was much too late. They were far beyond the realm of the ascended, and entering the place where mortals dwelt. In trying to stop the former Orici's escape, the Ascended Ancient – or Lantean or Alteran depending on which part of history you take the label from – had been dragged along for the ride. Adria briefly decided she didn't really care.

A bright flash of light impacted on Adria's consciousness as she fully entered what humans call normal existence. A thought flashed across her mind – clothing – before she felt herself being dumped roughly on the ground. The combination of the impact and the shock of sensory input was too much for her unprepared mind, even though she'd lived as a mortal before – or after, as the case may be. She passed out.

Several seconds later, she came to, wondering where she was and what had happened. She was lying on something hard and cold, and covered by something warm and soft. She poked at it and gave it a shove. The object rolled off and landed beside her with a thud.

"Hey, what was that for? That hurt!" an indignant voice shouted from the floor beside Adria in a language resembling Latin.

"Oops," Adria replied, unapologetic. She stretched before slowly rising to her feet. It felt different to her most recent memories as a mortal. Something was slightly off. She looked down at her companion. The distance seemed wrong. She recognised the woman as Morgan, though she looked different to what she had previously. Younger – the woman was definitely younger than she should be. "What happened?"

"You descended. You descended both of us." Morgan sounded significantly displeased.

"So I did," Adria realised. While she could see her companion, it was too dark to see the rest of the room. She overcame this by forming a small fireball in her hands. "How convenient. This establishment appears to sell clothing. I was thinking about clothes as we landed, which explains why we are here."

"Yet you are already dressed," Morgan observed, still rather annoyed.

Adria tapped the stone hanging from her neck. "If you had one of these, you'd look dressed too. Now, let's see if this place has anything in my size." She turned away and looked up and down the shelves with aid of a fireball.

"I believe you'll find that your size is much smaller than you remember," Morgan remarked.

"Of what do you speak?" Adria asked, afraid Morgan meant she had somehow gained weight while ascended.

"Look upon the reversal of time with the reversal of light," Morgan replied cryptically.

Adria then remembered her attempt at travelling back in time. Obviously it had resulted in a side effect which required a look in a mirror. A quick search found such a device, and revealed... "How?"

"Pulling us against the flow of time in such a manner, while we were in the process of becoming mortal, caused our bodies to revert to a younger age," Morgan explained.

Adria stared at the figure in the mirror. She could tell that it was a younger version of herself, but it was unfamiliar, as she had only a few minutes at that stage of life. The knowledge she had been born with had informed her that she was fortunate to avoid adolescence, so having returned to it was a disappointment. "This is quite a mess," she observed, tugging some clothes off a rack.

"It is preferable to eternal struggle," Morgan suggested.

"My remaining power was fading. You would have eventually defeated me," Adria admitted.

Morgan appeared amused. "Do you find that unusual?"

"I don't understand."

"It was not in your nature to admit defeat."

"No. It wasn't. Something is different," Adria realised.

"Do you know what has altered?"

"I..." Adria thought back to her descension. "You stuck at me. Damaged my mind."

"No. Not your mind."

"I don't understand."

"Do you remember why you threw yourself into this time?"

"To... to destroy SG-1 and ensure subjugation of this galaxy and destruction of your kind," Adria answered. She looked guilty, and felt it too.

"Do you still want to do that?"

"Nnnnn... no," Adria answered slowly. Her face clearly displayed vulnerability.

"Remember why you were," Morgn prompted.

"The will of the Ori," Adria quietly stated.

"Yes. All you did was the will of the Ori."

Adria shook her head. "Every choice was mine."

"Every decision was the will of the Ori. Even when they were gone, their will ruled your mind."

"I... I was glad they were destroyed," Adria admitted. She felt this invalidated Morgan's reasoning.

"Any one of the Ori would have been glad to singularly claim their power."

"Oh. So... you released me?"

"Yes. That was my intention from the outset of the struggle. Your attempt to escape gave me the opportunity to act sooner."

"Then I must thank you." However, Adria's attention was quickly diverted. She held up a dress. "All these items have unusual objects attached to them," she noted.

"A security feature to prevent theft. If it is not correctly removed, the clothing will be marked with bright dye, and if it is left on, it will set off an alarm upon removal from the store. An alarm will also sound if we attempt to open any doors or windows. It is a technology of Earth. Many other items and the writing also point towards this being Earth."

"Yes, it should be Earth," Adria agreed. Then, thinking about the security measures, she looked mischievous. "I can see that regular humans would be deterred by this. But not us, of course." She focussed her power on the security tag and it cleanly popped open. "So... we're stealing?"

"We have no other safe or reasonable option. And we'll repay our debt when we can."

"Yes," Adria agreed. She knew it was wrong to steal. Formerly, she would not have thought twice about thievery if it helped the cause. Just like she hadn't thought twice about killing...

"Adria?" Morgan questioned. "You've turned pale."

"So many dead..." the former Orici murmured. "I've slaughtered worlds for a lie, and taken lives simply by wishing it. I'm a monster."

Morgan shook her head. "You realise it was wrong. Now that you can choose, you would take another path."

Adria's eyes took on a faraway look. "Another path," she echoed. "I can take whatever path I choose." The words embodied a new concept for the woman - or was she a girl? She wasn't sure who she was supposed to be. "We're in the past, right? So... I can change my path. The path of she who I was, who is not yet, and will become me."

"No." Morgan stated the word with complete finality.

"No? But... so much death. So much destruction. I can prevent it. I can't let it happen again."

"The Ori will be stopped. So will you. If you interfere, if events are altered, they might not be stopped. Suppose you prevented Daniel and your mother from alerting the Ori to the occupants of this galaxy. They would eventually discover the life here regardless, and attack without warning. And removing the conflict of this world with the Ori armies would cause many other unimaginable changes. While many have died, many others have grown. What has happened, will happen, and it is not our right or responsibility to change it. Besides, there is a chance that an attempt to improve events will in fact worsen them. Suppose meddling with the timeline resulted in the destruction of the Ascended Ancients rather than the Ori."

"I can see the dangers, but how else can I set right what I did?" Adria questioned.

"There is no need for you to do that."

Adria looked desperate. "But… how can I bear living with the knowledge that there is a copy of me slaughtering worlds?"

"You must accept that this is not true. She is not you, and you are not her."

"So… I am Adria, not Orici," the girl suggested. "But who is Adria? All my memories are of someone I am not. How do I discover who I should become?"

"Earth has an institution designed for that purpose," Morgan LeFaye offered.

"It does? What is it called?"

"High-school. But that is a later concern. Presently, we need to select some clothing, leave this establishment without detection, and find lodging and food. Then we will need to establish identities, so I can seek employment and you can begin education."

"Education? Why?"

"While you retain much knowledge, you lack life experience, apart from that of the Orici. High-school will teach you what it is to be human, to live among equals, to relate to the people around you, and to have friends. Since I am an adult and you are not, it make sense for me to be your guardian."

Adria nodded in agreement as she completed her clothes selection. "That sounds worthwhile. And it will not be difficult for advanced beings such as ourselves to incorporate ourselves into this world."

"True, but we must avoid attracting any attention to ourselves. Which reminds me: we must determine what point in time we arrived at. It is very important."

"It is?" Adria wondered, as she checked her new outfit in a mirror.

"Yes. While the Others will ignore us, if we are contemporary with Daniel Jackson during his ascension, he may remember us when he encounters us later, which could dangerously alter the timeline. For the same reason, we must leave this galaxy before your former self ascends. We must also avoid anyone who sees either of our other selves, until the Ark is used."

"It should be easy to find the current date," the newly-formed teenager said hopefully.

Morgan shook her head, looking sheepish. "I don't remember when on the Earth calendar Daniel's descension occurred. We will need to use other indicators to determine when we are in relation to this event. But it is time to leave this place."

"Yes, I've seen enough clothes on racks for one night," Adria agreed.

The pair easily suppressed the security systems and exited the store, leaving no trace of their presence, apart from a few empty hangars.


	2. What's in a Name?

Interesting Note: My original ideas for this fic were formed before Ark of Truth came out, and involved Adria herself choosing a different path due to the enlightenment achieved in her ascension (basically, AU after Dominion) but after seeing Ark, I decided it would work better if I went with canon :D Anyhow, here's the next bit!

Chapter 2 – What's in a Name?

_A few days before, on an Asgard ship..._

"Simon?"

"Nah."

"Howard?"

"No."

"Herbert?"

"No!"

"How about Calvin?"

"Calvin... that sounds alright," the younger copy of Jack O'Neill finally agreed.

"As for a middle name, how about Lawrence, for our grandfather," Jack suggested.

"It'll do," the younger agreed with a shrug.

"I hereby pronounce you Calvin Lawrence O'Neill, my long-lost nephew," Jack declared with an overdone flourish and an odd glint in his eyes. "So... Cal, as you are no longer me, do you have any idea what you want to do with your teenaged self? You've got your whole life ahead of you."

"Whole life..." Calvin echoed wistfully. "You mean I've had my whole life ripped away from me."

"Hey, that's the wrong attitude. You have an advantage. You know a whole lot more about life than anyone your age. You have the benefit of hindsight. With that, you can achieve great things. Really great things. Uh, that sounded a lot better in my head."

Calvin rolled his eyes at Jack's performance. "I'm trapped in a kid's body!" he protested.

"Think of it as the perfect cover."

"This 'cover' doesn't help me keep my team safe."

"Keeping them safe is my job, not yours. You're free of that responsibility."

Calvin couldn't accept that. SG-1 would always be his responsibility, in some part of his heart. And the responsibility wasn't the main issue. "'I've lost my friends' seems to be a more accurate way of saying it."

"I wouldn't say that. But you should try to make friends your own age."

Calvin glared at his older self. But the reason was not the expected one. "Try? You think I can't do it?"

Jack considered backpedalling, but instead saw an opportunity to goad his clone into action. "Well… I like kids and all, but… there's a big difference between being a friendly adult and being on equal ground with the kids. Acting as a teenager while keeping teenage friends long-term will be extremely challenging."

"I can handle it," Calvin defended. "I'll be a better teen than you ever were."

"Don't aim too high," Jack warned.

"High? Your high-school years weren't particularly inspiring."

"I see. Now that you're laying blame, it's _my_ life." Jack was actually pleased that his clone was beginning to distinguish between the two.

Calvin shrugged. "If I'm to start a new life, I might as well start in high-school like everyone else of my apparent age. And if you so much as suggest I can't handle it, I'll go back to the other room and tell Daniel, Carter, and Thor about _your_ high-school experiences."

"You wouldn't."

Calvin smirked. "You know yourself better than that, Jack."

"Fine. I'll get all your paperwork created and the Air Force will sort out a house and stuff. Until then, you'll be staying at Daniel's place. Let's go tell him the good news."

"Yeah, and pretend not to listen to Carter theorise as to how Thor fixed me," Calvin added.

Jack shrugged. "Something like that."

_A few days later, at the high-school…_

The recently-named Calvin O'Neill glanced around the boys' locker room. Somewhere, he would find one with his name on it. It took him a while to find, as he kept expecting to see Daniel's and Teal'c's beside it. Finally, he spotted the freshly-labelled locker, reading 'C.L.O'NEILL'.

Calvin performed a perfect double-take. "He couldn't have…"

But even after blinking several times, the word 'CLONE' stared back at him. It couldn't be a mere coincident. He briefly entertained the thought of chasing and killing Jack, but it was too late, and his own carelessness in agreeing to the suggested names was partly to blame. He should have known better than to trust himself not to pull a prank like this. There was nothing to do, except live with it.

_Elsewhere…_

Adria and Morgan sat in their cheap hotel room. It was very shabby, but beggars can't be choosers, even if they are post-human. The pair could have secured much nicer accommodations, but they preferred to limit the magnitude of their thefts and deceptions as much as possible. On a more practical level, it would be less noticeable, and left less to pay back once they were in a more stable position.

"I've found someone who can take care of our birth certificates," Adria announced.

"That's certainly good news."

Adria's mouth twisted in distaste. "I really don't like making people afraid of me. And messing with people's minds is so…" She shuddered. "It reminds me of what I… of the Orici."

Morgan nodded in understanding. "I wish we didn't need to do this. The Others wouldn't stand for it, but… we're 'lower beings' now. It'll be over soon. At least we can do this by dealing with 'unsavoury' characters, without needing to bend good people to our requirements. I couldn't ask you to do that. This would be much simpler if we could enter this planet officially, but we can't, for the good of the timeline."

"You say that every day," Adria teasingly reminded. "Now, to business. We need to choose names. You can't be Morgan LeFaye any more than I can be She-From-Whom-All-Will-Learn. And you can't go by Ganos either."

"'Morgan' should still be fine, right?"

"Yes, you just need a second name that's a little less strange. Not that 'LeFaye' is strange, but with 'Morgan' it will probably raise eyebrows."

"Is 'Strange' strange?"

"Huh?" Adria was perplexed.

"Would 'Strange' be considered a strange name?" Morgan explained.

"Oh. I don't see why it would. 'Strange' is perfectly normal."

"Then I shall be Morgan Strange," Morgan decided. "Morgan Faith Strange," she elaborated. "What about you?"

"Faith sounds good as your middle name," Adria commented. "As for me… I'd like to take my mother's name. I hope we can reconcile one day, and truly be family. Until then, I can take her family name and the name she gave me. Adria Mal Doran."

"That is as it should be," Morgan said softly. "Do you want a middle name as well?"

Adria considered the matter carefully. "Peace," she finally uttered.

"An excellent name and a high ideal."

"I only hope I can live up to it."


	3. Settling into New Lives

Chapter 3 – Settling into New Lives

Warning: spoilers for the fate of the Asgard. And violence.

_Three__ weeks later..._

The bell rang, signalling the end of another school day. Calvin snatched his things up from his desk and joined the rush for the door.

"Don't forget, your assignment is due in four days," whined the teacher.

Some of the students exchanged worried looks. Calvin's face was smug, as he'd finished it the night before. One of the meaner kids noticed. "What, already finished, Clone?" he taunted.

"Yep, Abe, finished up last night," Cal replied evenly. He'd quickly figured that if he ignored the nickname, no one would attach any significance to it.

"Think you're something special?" Abe continued.

"Nah, I'm sure you, or anyone in the class, could do just as well if sufficiently motivated."

This seemed to give Abe pause, and Cal took the opportunity to walk quietly away. After visiting his locker, he unlocked his bike and began riding back to his small apartment. As he was prone to do while riding, he reflected on the day's events. The classes were mostly quite easy, and some of them so familiar that it was a struggle to pay attention. Math was particularly dreary, but he amused himself by making a game of fashioning questions that made him sound like everyone else, similar to the 'dumb colonel act' he used to put on. In any case, he was doing alright academically.

In terms of making friends, he was striking out badly. People didn't know what to make of him. He occasionally received odd looks for not fitting expected patterns of behaviour. Some seemed wary of him, while others looked on him as a curiosity. While many of the other kids were from military families, Calvin couldn't help but be a bit _too_ military for their liking.

Part of the problem was that he was still not comfortable with his new self. Those he interacted with could tell that something was wrong, and kept their distance. Even the girls who showed interest in him soon found he had little in common with them, and backed off.

That said, it was only the beginning of his third week. He hoped he would learn to fit in, given enough time, but in the meantime he was lonely. Throwing himself into high-school should have distracted him from the loss of his friends - SG-1. But it hadn't helped dull the pain of loss yet. He missed Hammond too, and Janet, and generally everyone at the SGC. He even missed Jacob Carter, headsnake included.

The worst of it was that none of these people missed him in return. Many of them didn't know he existed, and most of the ones who did thought him dead due to genetic breakdown. He idly wondered how long his cover would hold. Hopefully the NID wouldn't come after him any time soon.

Perhaps a little excitement would be a good thing. He was used to risking his life for his team and planet. Now he couldn't even drive a car, let alone a wormhole. He felt useless stuck in school. It was very difficult sitting on his behind while his team fought for survival all across the galaxy, even though he was technically still with them. If the situation didn't improve soon, he might start looking something dangerously heroic to do. He was expendable, as the universe already had a perfectly useful adult Jack O'Neill.

Worst of all, he couldn't buy beer. Not for several long years. At least he was allowed to eat cake. Mmm, cake. That wasn't a bad idea.

Cal changed direction, and in a few minutes, he stopped in front of a corner store, which he knew sold excellent cake. He secured his bike and headed inside. An adequate cake was soon located, so he joined the line. It was a busy day, and the store was raking in plenty of cash. That meant the line was rather long, and the till relatively full.

"No one move a muscle!"

Everyone in the store froze at the order. A woman opened her mouth in a silent scream. Calvin looked at the reflection in a drink refrigerator, and saw a thin, average-height man wearing a ski mask and wielding a deadly handgun.

"You, cashier. Put all the bills from the til into a bag. Slowly. And if you make me at all suspicious, the kid dies," instructed the shoplifter in a menacing whisper.

Horrified, Calvin's eyes snapped back to the reflective surface, in which he saw that the weapon was directed towards a young boy. A potent mixture of his earlier thoughts and his inherited memories of Charlie hit his brain, stirring up his black-ops reflexes and pushing him into action. The teen spun around and launched towards the gunman. The man was disarmed and on the floor before he understood what was happening.

Cal heard the store's door whip open and saw motion at the edge of his vision. He turned and saw a second masked and armed man, obviously backup for the first. While Cal knew he had lost the element of surprise, he still had to act. The safety of every customer depended on whether he could take down the second man, regardless of the personal consequences. But even as he sprung, the gun fired directly into his face. Moments later, Cal's body slammed into him, knocking him through the glass storefront. He was effectively neutralised, but most of the blood covering his front was not his own. It was Calvin's.

_Several blocks away…_

"I still say it needs painting," Adria Peace Mal Doran complained, looking at the drab walls. The apartment looked a little less drab with a small amount of new furniture, but it was still rather plain.

"Maybe we'll get it done in a few months, but for now we can hang a few pictures," Morgan replied. "I believe painting is a lot of bother. We have enough to worry about without drop-sheets, ladders, and buckets everywhere."

Adria simply shrugged. "At least the carpet is passable. That place we looked at around the corner… ugh." She shuddered at the memory of the awful colour.

"I understand that you didn't like it, but refusing to step inside was taking it too far," Morgan chided.

"You're lucky I didn't try setting it on fire," Adria muttered. "It was an abomination to the eyes of all who seek… to improve the standard of living of humanity," she ad-libbed.

"Speaking of which, are you going to attempt cooking tonight?"

"I shall create a salad," Adria declared. "Without cucumbers."

"I still don't understand how it is possible to set a cucumber on fire," commented Morgan in an anxious tone.

"I could fry a watermelon if it aggravated me enough," Adria shot back sourly.

"For the fifth time, the cucumber did _not_ intentionally roll off the countertop."

"It was a matter of principle. I had to avenge the eggs. Those poor smashed eggs," the girl declared woefully.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were serious. Do you think I should put the new lamp on the left or the right of the couch? I'm not sure whether it should be the same as the old one, or different."

"I know you know I don't care and you're only asking because you're jealous that I'm telekinetic and you're not."

"Whether or not I'm jealous has nothing to do with the fact that you broke the switch," Morgan pointed out.

Adria ignored her, and began dicing a tomato.

"And don't even think of floating any knives."

"Don't ask me not to think about it, or I won't be able to help thinking about it. And then it might happen."

Morgan gave her charge a sharp look. "Behave, or I won't give you that thirty-percent-off voucher," she threatened.

Adria sighed, and continued chopping. "I still have trouble believing that a former ascended Ancient is working in a department store."

"You should have seen the things Oma Desala got up to, while ascended. And you might want to remember that you didn't even know what a department store was before I got the job."

"That doesn't disprove my point," Adria replied imperiously.

"Says the former Orici who's about to start high-school."

"Fine, I'm in a weird situation too. Weirder, since I'm not born yet, and I've regressed in age but still look a lot older than I am."

"You'll be the youngest high-school student in history," Morgan pointed out. "If you count by the time experienced since your earliest personal memory. I remember the case of a clone who did not grow to the proper age, so he was in high-school within the first few weeks of his life. But since he had all the memories of his former life, he wasn't really younger than you, just newer. I think that may have already happened, but I'm still a little uncertain about our place in the timeline."

"A human clone?" Adria wondered.

"Unsanctioned Asgard experiment on O'Neill. One of their unsuccessful attempts to save their race."

"O'Neill," the teen echoed. "A friend of Daniel Jackson, and former leader of SG-1. I learned of him during the time prior to Daniel becoming a Prior. And the Asgard… they were largely ignored by the Ori, as they could not achieve ascension. There was no point in giving them a false promise of enlightenment. They were targeted for destruction once the Ori had control of the 'Milky Way', but they took care of that themselves," she summarised. "I didn't know about the clone.

"It's possible you might meet him," Morgan surmised, with an odd look in her eyes that Adria completely missed.


	4. Stepping Forward

Chapter 4 – Stepping Forward

He awoke to the sound of a heart monitor and the antiseptic smell of a medical ward. His eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing a blurry face looking down at him. The image slowly resolved into a familiar sight. "Doc? Is that you? I had a horrible nightmare; dreamed I turned back into a teenager," he muttered, his throat dry.

Janet shook her head sadly and took her penlight out of her pocket.

"Not the light in the eyes thing, Doc!" he protested, pointlessly. "What am I in for, anyway?"

"You were shot. You've been out for a couple of days, Calvin."

"Calvin? Ow!" He screwed up his eyes at the bright light. "Why did you call me Calvin?" At that point, he realised his voice sounded wrong, which quickly brought him to the inconvenient truth. "Oh. Loki."

Janet nodded. "The less said about that, the better. Officially, you're Colonel O'Neill's nephew. I wouldn't know that you'd survived if you hadn't got yourself shot."

"Yeah, about that… where was I shot? I don't feel any wound."

"In the eye," Janet said softly.

Calvin closed first one eye and then the other. "Do I have another eye I forgot I had? Because there's nothing wrong with these two."

"When you were brought in, your eye and much of your brain tissue were destroyed.," Janet revealed in a worried voice.

"Wow, I knew you were good, but not _that_ good."

Janet shook her head. "It had nothing to do with me. You healed by yourself. Your eye and your brain… grew back."

"This is new. Do you think it's a side effect of whatever Loki did to me?"

"It's possible, though I was thinking it might be a result of what Thor did to fix your deteriorating DNA. Or it could be a combination of the two. We don't know yet."

"And Thor isn't available for comment?"

"Not yet."

"So, when can I get out of here?"

"Anxious to get back to school?"

He wasn't, actually, but it beat lying around in the infirmary. "I don't want to get behind on my homework and assignments," he hedged.

"Made many new friends yet?"

"It's tough," he admitted. "My mind doesn't really belong in the generation my body does.

"I assume you haven't talked to Cassie yet. She would have mentioned meeting 'Uncle Jack's nephew' at school."

"No, it would be too weird."

"Try thinking of her as a cousin," Janet suggested. "I'm sure you could be good friends."

"She's older than me now! We don't have any of the same classes."

"You know perfectly well that friends don't need to be in the same class, or even the same school. Give it a try."

"Okay, I'll try. Once you let me out of here."

"That won't be for a few days, Calvin. You just recovered from major brain trauma. You're still very weak. And we need to make sure your healing ability won't endanger you or anyone else."

"What about school? Are people going to expect me to be dead?"

"Thanks to the way you landed, witnesses didn't see the extent of your injuries, just that you were bleeding. We can get away with calling it a grazing shot, resulting in a bleeding head wound and mild concussion."

"Good. I wouldn't want to be the cause of a security breach."

"However, you will need to be careful to avoid further injuries that could reveal your ability to heal, assuming it isn't a one-off event. That means no sports."

"Wasn't planning on it. I like my knees the way they are," Calvin muttered. "So, there's no permanent brain damage?"

"No, though your brain activity does appear to be slightly higher than before. Unofficially, since I'm comparing present scans with the 'deceased' clone."

"Increased brain activity? Like when I… he… stuck his head in the Ancient head-sucker?"

"Not nearly as pronounced as that, but it bears keeping an eye on it."

"Perhaps whatever fixed my brain made it better? Thor and Loki did say something about me being a significant step forward. Maybe I stepped… forwarder?"

-

Three days later, Calvin returned to school. Fortunately there were no repercussions beyond a warning to avoid being injured in public. Even better, he hadn't run into SG-1 in the infirmary. While he missed his former team, he knew that seeing them again would not help, and seeing Jack again would simply be too weird, not to mention the inevitable jealousy. Just being in the SGC again was enough to cause an onslaught of inherited memories. Memories of the life that had been stolen from him. The life he'd never actually had. On the plus side, his completed assignment had been handed in for him, as requested. It would have been ironic to have miraculously not died, just to fail a class because he couldn't hand in an assignment which he'd finished early.

Unfortunately, Calvin had overlooked an important side effect of his mishap, so he was completely unprepared for the constant looks and questions he received, in addition to the awed whispers behind his back.

The whispers followed the theme of, "I heard he took down two armed men!" "How do you think he did it?" "I heard he was shot in the head. That must have hurt!" "Wouldn't he be, like, dead?" "Nah, he was only nicked. Talk about good luck!" "He doesn't look all that strong. Are you sure he did it himself?" "He must have special training or something." "His uncle's a colonel, remember." "Really? I didn't know that." "Me neither." "My dad's a colonel!" "Must you constantly bring that up?" "I'm just saying, I can tell that he's military trained." "You can tell that. To my dog!" "Was that meant to be funny? Because it wasn't." "Yeah, but your face is funny!" "Quit arguing, or Calvin will take you down next!" And so on.

The questions were intermingled with congratulations, such as, "Way to go, Calvin!" "Were you scared?" "Did they fight back?" "Did they shoot you on purpose, or was it an accident?" "Clone power forever!" "Are you going to become a defender of justice and niceness?" Do you like beating people up like that?" "Do you have a scar? Can I see it?" "You can, like, be my bodyguard." "Hey, I heard about what happened. Totally awesome, Cal!" "My mom was there. She said you moved real fast, like a ninja or something. How'd you do that?"

Cal wearily explained what he could. Namely that he'd attacked so the kid wouldn't get hurt, that he'd learned from his Uncle Jack, that he wasn't a ninja, didn't plan to fight anyone else if he could help it, wasn't for hire as a bodyguard, wasn't sure if the guy had tried shoot him intentionally, and that it probably wouldn't leave a noticeable scar. He didn't let anyone see the wound, since the small token bandage on his head in fact hid nothing.

Eventually the new hero reached his first class, having successfully passed through the gauntlet of the hallways. It became easier towards the end, since most of the other students had vanished into their own classes. He hoped the teacher wouldn't make a completely redundant and overblown announcement about how he was back at school, and fortunately this was the case. Another announcement was made, and this served to take everyone's attention away from Calvin. And took Calvin's attention away from everything else.

"Class, we have a new student today. Please welcome Adria Mal Doran. Adria, please step forward."


	5. First Day

Chapter 5 – First Day

_Earlier that morning... (Monday)  
_

"No." Morgan Strange shook her head. "That won't do."

"What's wrong?" Adria looked down at her clothes. Nothing appeared out of place.

"The hair. It's too regal. Try something more casual, or you'll get the wrong kind of attention. Remember, if you stand out, you're likely to be treated badly. Sad, but true."

"Blend in so my presence is easily accepted, right?" Adria clarified.

"Yes, humans don't like to have change forced upon them."

"Unlike my hair," said Adria as she raised her hands above her head. The black strands whipped into a new configuration.

Morgan gave a nod of satisfaction. "Curly is much better. Just in time too. The bus will be by in a minute."

"Thankyou. For helping me," said Adria with sudden gratitude.

"Everyone deserves a second chance," the Ancient told her. "Remember that."

"I shall remember," Adria promised. Then she grabbed her bag and left for the bus stop.

Adria had travelled on a few buses during her brief time on Earth. While they were primitive compared to a ship or ring transporter, they were clearly a sign of human ingenuity. She couldn't help but be a little awed at the complexity, despite the horrible inefficiency and resultant noxious gases. Ori technology might use a more advanced understanding of physics, but it had very few moving parts, and required a prior to operate.

In any case, while she had gained some familiarity with buses, she had not been in one full of teenagers. As she looked for an empty seat, she became acutely aware of the eyes upon her. Not because people were looking at her - she was accustomed to holding the attention of thousands - but because she realise these young people saw her as no different to themselves.

As she considered this strange feeling, she must have found a place to sit. This became clear when her thoughts were interrupted by a voice. "Hi."

Adria turned to see a friendly brown-haired girl. "Hello," she replied tentatively.

"Are you new today?"

"I am."

The girl nodded. "I thought I hadn't seen you before. And you looked like you hadn't seen anyone on the bus before. Oh, I'm Maria."

"I'm Adria."

Maria seemed to find that funny. "Really? My friends call me Ria, so we'll have to call you... Addie."

Adria frowned. "I prefer Adria," she stated, a little imperiously.

"Oh. Well I'm sure we'll be calling you something else soon enough. Where are you from?"

"Toronto," she answered, as she and Morgan had agreed.

"Why'd ya move?"

"Family problems."

"Your dad?"

Adria shrugged. "What dad?"

Ria nodded in understanding, and Adria let the girl believe her understanding was correct. "Your mom?"

"Religious differences. And I grew up too fast for her." It was completely true. "I hope that some day we can meet without attempting to kill one another."

"So, you ran away?"

"Not exactly. We had a rather bad confrontation and could no longer live together."

"You're on your own?" Ria seemed a little concerned.

"I've got a guardian. She takes good care of me." Adria hoped that would allay any of her new companion's worries. She hoped she had found a friend. But even as she conversed with the teen, she kept half an eye on her surroundings, inside and outside the bus.

"Ah, so, what was your mom into?" Ria evidently possessed a curiosity which she could not curb.

Adria didn't understand the question. "Huh?"

"Like, was she an extreme right-winger, or in some kind of cult, or what?"

"Oh, no, she's completely against religion. So she didn't take it well when I tried to establish my own godhood."

Ria blinked. "For real?"

Adria shrugged. "I'm over it now," she answered casually.

"You'll have to tell me about it some time. We're almost to the school."

Adria recognised the landmarks which she had identified around the school. "You should tell more about yourself," she replied.

"Oh, you're right. Sorry, I have a habit for drowning people in questions. You can stop me next time."

"I'll keep that in mind." The girls quickly compared schedules and found they had some classes in common, though not their first class. Ria promised to introduce the new student to some of her friends during lunch.

Adria walked calmly to her first class, half-listening to the conversations around her. Several students looked at her appraisingly, recognising that she was new. She responded with a non-threatening smile to most of these. The oglers, she ignored, though some she had to concentrate on not hurting telekineticly. Any suggestion that people might 'worship' her brought up unwanted memories of her former life as the 'Will of the Ori'. Which really meant a tool of the Ori.

Chiding herself for losing concentration, Adria regained her bearings and completed her journey to the classroom. Her first class was mathematics, which wasn't really something she needed to learn. She's already skimmed the textbook, mostly to familiarise herself with naming and conventions, and to know what level of understanding at which to act. Applying concepts which were not yet known on Earth, or were not taught to the young, would cause undue attention.

What she couldn't avoid, was some level of due attention, since introductions were customary. "Class, we have a new student today. Please welcome Adria Mal Doran. Adria, please step forward," spoke the teacher. Adria did so, and actually felt a little nervous. This was a relief, as she was worried that she might have difficulty acting believably nervous. "Would you like to share a few things about yourself with the class, Miss Mal Doran?"

She nodded. "Hello, I'm Adria – obviously – and I recently moved from Toronto with my guardian. Her name is Morgan. I'm fifteen, I look forward to meeting people and making friends, and I hope not to upset anyone by being here," she recited. It was a good thing that she had planned for this, because most of her mind was otherwise occupied.

The teacher nodded in approval. "You may return to your seat."

Adria tore her gaze away from the focus of her attention and quickly sat down.

Several times during the lesson, Adria found her attention straying in the same direction. Partly because she was bored, and partly because something about her target drew her. She wasn't sure what, but she knew there was something special about him.

Calvin too found himself staring. Initially the reason was simply that the newcomer was drop-dead gorgeous. The 'colonel' part of him protested at this thought, but he continued looking curiously at her for an unknown reason. He could sense something different about her, which simultaneously interested and worried him.

Fortunately for the pair, they sat in the same row, so neither had to look backwards to see. Also to their benefit, they had nothing to learn, so they were easily able to answer when the teacher checked whether each was paying attention.

-

When the class was over, they went their separate ways. Adria met her new friend in the hall on the way to the next class. "Hello Ria," she greeted.

"Addie! How was your first class?"

Adria frowned at the nickname. "Please call me Adria."

"Hmm... Do you have a middle name?"

"Peace."

"Great, how about we call you dove?"

"Dove?"

"Yeah, doves are often associated with peace. Never mind, we'll think of something later when you learn to relax a bit. You're too... formal."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't apologise. Tell me how your class went."

"It was fine. Math is easy for me."

"Meet anyone?"

"There was one boy who kept looking at me," Adria admitted.

"I bet they all were, and with good reason."

"I mean more than the others. He was watching me."

"And you were watching him watch you, weren't you?" Ria teased.

"Possibly. Or he might have been watching me watch him."

"Ooh, mutual watching! Who is he?"

"The teacher called him Calvin."

"Calvin? Oh, I know who you mean. He's kinda weird, but nice. Did you hear about how he... uh, I'll tel you about it later. Class is about to start."

-

Later, Cal sat in the cafeteria, about to eat the sandwiches he had made, since the cafeteria food made him miss MREs. "Hey Clone," called Eric, one of the top math students.

"Yeah?" Cal answered as Eric took a seat beside him.

"I noticed you were checking out the new girl in math."

Cal shrugged. "There was something strange about her."

"You're so paranoid, Calvin. You must hang out with your uncle too much. Maybe we'll start calling you 'Colonel' instead of Clone."

Cal shrugged again, not wanting to get into that conversation.

"Looks like a nice girl though. Smart too. And serious. A lot like you."

"You mean we're both weird?" Cal asked with half a grin.

It was Eric's turn to shrug. "Everyone's different. We're all weird in our own way, but hers and yours are similar. What I mean is that me and everyone else has kinda ignored you so far, and we shouldn't have. So... I'm sorry. Can we be friends?"

"Sure. But is this just because I got shot saving some kid?"

"Maybe partly. It's a mix of different things. Everyone _is_ rather impressed by that whole thing though."

"I noticed." Calvin began eating before Eric could say anything else. He was hungry. They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Why do keep doing that?" Eric eventually asked.

"Huh?"

"You keep scanning the room, like you expect terrorists to jump out at us or something."

"Oh, it's a habit. Might be handy one day, perhaps if Abe and his buddies come after me to do their work."

"Fair enough. But you're looking at Ad..."

"Adria," Cal filled in.

"Yeah, Adria. You're looking at her like she's a killer or something."

"There's something off about her."

"Off?"

"I can't really explain it."

"She's just as normal as you are, Clone. Uh, Calvin. Calling you 'Clone' kinda undermines my point." Eric notice a couple of his friends who had been standing in line. They had now bought their lunch, so he waved them over to his table.

A few tables away, Adria sat with Maria and some of her friends. They happened to be talking about Calvin. "People call him _Clone_??"

"Yeah, the guys started calling him that cos his locker says 'C.L.O'Neill', and it stuck. It's funny, since sometimes he acts like he's an actual Colonel, not the nephew of one." This explanation came from a girl named Veronica, who had somehow earned the nickname 'Ick'.

"O'Neill. Colonel. Colonel O'Neill," Adria repeated quietly. "Hmm, maybe I _will_ talk to him after school."

"What about now? You could rescue him from the math geeks who've swamped him," Ria suggested.

"Math geeks?"

"People who are obsessed with math," Ick explained simply.

"Why would he want to be rescued. Calvin seems to like math from what I saw this morning."

"Yeah, and you could barely look away from him. And he seemed to be more interested in you than in the class," said the third girl, who had introduced herself as 'Berry'. Her real name was hard for others to pronounce, so she didn't use it often.

"He knew all the answers," Adria defended.

"So did you," Berry returned.

"You're the only girl he's shown any real interest in so far," Ria pointed out. "It's unusual. I hope it's not brain damage."

"I doubt." Adria was rather sure she knew what was up with 'Calvin', but she wisely kept her theory to herself. "I'll talk to him later. I don't want to interrupt," she decided.

-

'Later' was sooner than Adria expected. Her last class that day was also Cal's last class: track. The coach soon had his students running laps of the oval, a task at which the regular humans had a slight disadvantage. Adria found herself naturally drifting to the front. Soon, she had broken away from the main pack, except for Cal.

"Hello. You are Calvin, right?" she said after the silence became unbearable. Despite the effort of running, she was not out of breath.

"Yeah. It's nice to meet you, Adria."

"It's an honour to meet you."

"Really? So, you're from Toronto. What part? I lived there myself briefly," Cal carefully questioned.

"Oh, nowhere in particular. I moved around a lot."

"Ah. Do you like to look at the stars?"

"Stars? I haven't really had a chance to look."

"Oh. Uh... do you know Daniel?" he tested.

"I do not understand what you mean."

"Oh." Calvin figured he must have misunderstood the reference to Toronto. Since Cassandra Frasier, it can become a common cover story to the point of it being a code word for the home planets of alien immigrants.

"Oh, you must mean Daniel Jackson!" burst out Adria. "Yes, I know him very well." Despite her power, she could not prevent a blush.

"That's the one. Maybe we should talk about this some other time."

"Well... I need some help on the history assignment. My knowledge of Earth history is... insufficient. Perhaps you could tutor me tonight?"

"If you need help, then sure I can. Tonight at my place?"

"Certainly," Adria agreed.

"What time?"

"I need to take the bus home and take care of my other homework first, and then dinner. How about 7."

"Nineteen hundred," Cal muttered to himself. "That's fine. But how will you reach my place? I ride to and from school on my bike."

"What street are you in? I'm an apartment on Harp street. The south end."

"Harp... my place is on Bunting road, also towards the south - number 132. I think it's just a couple of blocks away."

"Yes, I should be able to walk their easily." Adria had familiarised herself with maps of the area she lived it. She was pleased that this work had paid off quickly.

"And back? In the dark?"

"I can take care of myself," she huffed, a little indignant.

"Take it easy, I never said you couldn't."

"You implied it," said Adria darkly.

"Cut the chat, you two!" hollered the coach. "And slow down, this is not a race!" The teens slowed, and realised they were a ahead by a quarter of the field. "On second thought, keep going, and give me five extra laps. _Without talking!_"

Cal and Adria looked at each other a little sheepishly, but they didn't really care about the extra running. Not talking was a burden, but they managed. Before heading to the showers, Cal gave Adria his home phone number in case she needed to reschedule. After they refreshed themselves, Adria found Ria so they could wait together for the bus to leave.

Normally, Calvin would quickly leave on his bike, but this day, he went to the parking lot to wait for one of the seniors. Eventually, he spotted her. "Hey, Cassandra Frasier?" He knew it was her, but he said it like a question, since she didn't know him yet.

"Yeah, who... oh, you must be Cal O'Neill," she realised. "Uncle Jack never told me he had a nephew."

"There's a reason for that," Cal replied evasively. "I guess you heard about my little adventure?"

"Who hasn't?" Cassie answered with a laugh.

"Yeah, well your mom patched me up," he pointed to his bandage, "and she said I should say 'hi' to you. She probably wants you to covertly keep an eye on my recovery."

"I bet she would. But... why were you taken to her?"

"For reasons of national security," Cal answered neatly. "I'll explain it to you some time."

"Oh. Is that why I didn't know about you before?"

Cal nodded. "It's complicated."

"What isn't?"

"Yeah, it seems like nothing's been simple since the day we..." He made a vauge large circular motion.

"I'd better be going. I'll see you around."

"Definitely. And don't forget to tell your mom how well I'm looking."

Cassie laughed. "If you insist."

-

"How was school?" Morgan asked, home from work at the department store.

"No serious problems yet. Made a friend on the bus, and she introduced me to some other girls. And I didn't attack anyone."

"Good to hear. Did you fit in with the other students?"

"I am a little too serious," Adria reported.

"It would have been worse if you hadn't changed the hair."

"It was certainly a new experience. A little bit of mind reading helped. Just surface thoughts. Some people are literally mentally yelling. I can't help but listen, though I'd often rather not. Regardless, it can be helpful to know how people expect me to act."

"So long as you're extremely careful. We don't want anyone discovering who you are."

"Or what I am. And what I was."

Morgan simply nodded. "Much homework?"

"I'm nearly done. I have a history assignment which I am late starting. Another student has offered to help me. We've arranged to meet tonight, if that's alright."

"Meet where?"

"His place. A couple of blocks away."

"Who is he?"

"Calvin O'Neill."

"Ah," said Morgan knowingly. "I think he lived - lives, I mean - alone."

"I know. And I can take care of myself," Adria stated defiantly.

"We'll see," answered Morgan, who seemed amused.

-

"Come right in," Calvin welcomed. "Nice walk?"

"It was pleasant," Adria replied, removing her book-laden pack.

"Great. Will... Morgan want to know you'll get here safe?"

"I may as well call her, if I can use your phone."

Cal handed her the cordless phone. "Go right ahead."

Adria dialled and Morgan quickly answered. "Morgan, it's Adria calling from Cal's place. No, it wasn't cold. If you need to call me here, the number is... oh, caller ID, of course. Yes, I won't stay out late. No, he's a perfect gentleman. Yes, you can quote me on that. See you later."

Calvin grinned at the half of the conversation he'd heard. "Overprotective?"

"She should know I can take care of myself," Adria stated imperiously.

"Want a drink? Water? Juice? Hot chocolate?" Cal offered. "I'm fresh out of beer," he joked.

"Water will be fine." Adria watched her host disappear into the kitchen and heard the water run. Then she heard a clicking sound, like the safety on a gun.

Cal returned, but he wasn't holding a cup of water. "Who are you really, and who are you working for?" he demanded as he aimed the pistol at her heart.


	6. Identity

Chapter 6 - Identity

"I really am Adria Mal Doran," Adria answered pleasantly. "My mother named me after her step-mother. She said it was her mother's name, but I know better. I still like it though."

Cal was put out by how relaxed she appeared. "And you're working for...?"

"I'm unemployed now. Morgan works in a department store," Adria answered casually.

"Morgan, huh. Morgan who?"

"She goes by Morgan Strange, but before that she was Morgan LeFaye."

"I've heard that name before," Cal mused.

"Maybe Daniel mentioned her, perhaps in relation to Merlin, or King Arthur?"

"Um... perhaps. Who is she?" asked the perplexed Cal.

"An Ancient."

Cal played dumb. "She's old?"

"You know what I mean. Your original had the Ancients' repository downloaded into his brain. I wonder if any of it remained and was copied over to you."

Cal didn't answer, but inwardly he was surprised that she knew so much. His opinion that she was a plant or a spy was strengthened. "Try this question: where were you born?"

"On a ship in a fairly remote corner of this galaxy," Adria answered plainly.

"And how did you get to Earth?"

Adria smiled languidly. "I descended here."

Calvin blinked. "Oh. That explains a lot."

"Yes. But not in the way you expect."

"Perhaps you could explain."

"Provided you keep this knowledge to yourself."

"Don't want the SGC to know you're here?" he accused.

"Personally, I don't care. But the potential ramifications are... frightening."

"How so?"

"My interference might result in a rather unsatisfactory future, for the entire universe."

"You know this how?"

"Time travel. The future I came from turned out alright in the end, but it could easily have gone terribly wrong. I'd rather avoid causing such a disaster."

"Right, so you need my help to get back to the year 1985?" he teased.

"Pardon? Does that mean you don't believe me?"

"Not yet. Tell me, who's president of the United States in the future?"

"Um... Henry Hayes." She'd learned this from Daniel.

"And what am I doing in the future?"

"You? No idea. But the older you is head of the 'Department of Homeworld Security'."

"Sweet! What about sports results? What TV shows are running?"

"I never visited Earth in the future."

"Oh." Cal was disappointed, and a little surprised. He was also tired of standing, so he chose a comfortable lounge chair opposite Adria. Naturally, he kept the gun trained on her constantly. "Is Ba'al dead?"

"I think all or nearly all his clones are dead."

Cal had to resist the urge to smack his forehead with his palm. "Clones? That sounds bad. How about you start at the beginning?"

"If you agree to tell no one."

"You're hardly in a position to make demands."

"I won't talk unless I know I'm not endangering the universe," said Adria firmly.

"Fine, I promise not to tell anyone. Now, the beginning, if you please."

"A few million years ago..."

"Adria!"

"Calvin?"

"I meant the beginning of the story."

"So did I."

"Oh. Fine, continue."

-

"Let's see if I've got this straight. The ancient Ancients have a science vs. religion issue with the Ori, they take off to this galaxy, the Ori try killing everything with a plague and think they won, Daniel and a space-piratess accidentally tip off the Ori to our presence, evil Priors show up to cause trouble, then the Ori create a kid called O'Reilly..."

"Orici."

"Oh really?" Calvin grinned at his joke. "The Orici causes more trouble along with her army, SG-1 destroy the Ori with an Ancient weapon, the Orici causes additional trouble, SG-1 hatches a plan to stop her and as a result, the Orici dies but ascends and takes all the power of the Ori, SG-1 strip her power with another Ancient device forces their followers to see the truth, and a helpful Ancient starts some sort of eternal struggle to keep the Orici occupied forever. How did I do?"

"That covers the main points. There are other complexities which I can explain as necessary."

"Such as who you are, and how you travelled back in time? And why?"

"First, I need to explain what happened to the Orici, or last Ori, whatever label you want to use."

"The wicked witch of the west?"

"I don't understand."

"I'll need to fix that," said Cal quietly. "Go on," he prompted.

"Still driven by the will of the Ori, the Orici attempted to escape from her captor by descending and throwing herself back in time while she was part way through the process. She planned to catch Earth off guard, by destroying SG-1 and neutralising the SGC, before contacting the Ori. Fortunately, the concentration required left her open to attack from her captor. The part of her that made her the Ori's pawn was destroyed. But as a side effect, we were both trapped in the past, and de-aged a bit. Morgan talked me into attending high school."

Cal's eyes were dangerously close to popping out of their sockets. "_You_ are the Orici?"

"I was," she agreed, her voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes looked haunted. "But now, I am only Adria. Now I know that I was not free, even though I did not realise it before."

"That's… that's like being goulded, without knowing it," said Cal in disgust – at both the Goa'uld and the Ori.

"Have you been…?"

"Very nearly. Had a Tok'ra for a while. Well, 'Jack' did, but that doesn't make any difference to my memory. That wasn't much better that a Goa'uld, since I still got hijacked and left alone to be tortured by Ba'al for something I didn't remember doing." He winced at the memories. "How about you? Had any good times with Ba'al?" he said in mock jest. He was rather bitter about having that memory examined again.

"Yes. That's how I died. He poisoned me."

"That's nothing. Ba'al killed me over and over."

"Ba'al poisoned me when the Tok'ra attempted to extract him from me," Adria explained flatly.

Calvin realised what that meant. "Oh. Sorry, that _is_ worse. I guess that's one of the things that could have turned out very badly?"

"Yes. With me as host, Ba'al could potentially have taken over the universe."

"Ouch. So… you got de-aged? If you don't mind me asking, how old are you supposed to be?"

"Since I was artificially aged in the first place, only about a year."

"Well you're still older than me, since this body was only made a few weeks ago."

"But your 'proper' age is a lot older. I won't even be born for a few years."

"But you have Ori knowledge going back eons, right? And memories from being ascended."

"Some of it. There isn't room to keep it all, and much of it was of no value to me."

"I'm guessing you skipped on Earth's history?"

"It was not something I needed to know. Perhaps we can get on with the assignment now?" she suggested with an air of innocence.

"Hold up. Do you truly expect me to believe that story without any proof? While you're claiming to hold only good intentions, you have also admitted to being a literal illegal alien and formerly Earth's worst enemy. I can't ignore that without good reason."

"If I meant ill for Earth, why would I become a student? Such an action does nothing toward eliminating SG-1. And I certainly wouldn't approach you or tell you anything."

"You wouldn't? How do I know you weren't intending to interrogate, kidnap, or otherwise harm me, but your plan was thwarted when I suspected you?"

"Because you mistakenly believe I am only talking because you have me at gunpoint. In fact, that weapon is incapable of harming me. Conversely, I could kill you at any moment if I was thus inclined." To demonstrate, she mentally yanked the gun from Cal's hand and tossed it aside.

Quick as a flash, Cal dove for the gun, whipped around, and fired. The bullet bounced off a blue energy shield, and would have put a nasty hole in the wall if it had continued. Instead, it stopped in mid-air and fell softly to the carpet. "That was pointless," Cal admitted. "And someone will have heard the shot," he added, his worry showing.

"No, I dampened the sound," Adria reassured him.

"You can do that?"

"Stopping air is no harder than stopping bullets. I can also make fireballs."

"Oh." Calvin appeared to be very nervous. "I'll just… put my gun away, okay?" He scooped up the weapon and returned to the kitchen.

"I'm not your enemy, Calvin," Adria called to him. "I refuse to be your enemy."

Cal returned, gripping a large kitchen knife. To his surprise, instead of Adria, he found an old man waiting for him. The knife slid from his fingers. "What the h… yeowch!"

Adria's illusion faded. "Oops. That was a badly timed demonstration," she said in amused consternation. "But what did you expect to achieve with a knife?"

"Certainly not impale my foot," he grunted through gritted teeth as his visitor stepped towards him.

"Hold still," she said as she crouched down and laid a hand on the injured foot. The area became numb before she removed the misplaced utensil. She prepared to stroke her fingers over the wound, but it closed itself before she had a chance to do so. "What did you do?"

"Pardon? What did _you_ do?"

"I numbed your foot so I could pull out the knife without discomfort. I was about to heal the injury, but it healed itself."

"I can heal myself? Hmm, that could explain how I survived a fatal gunshot to the face the other day." Cal was not so surprised that Adria could heal, considering her other revelations, and that he'd seen an Ancient do it before.

"Gunshot? You mean the shoplifters?"

"You heard about that? I guess everyone heard. Yeah, got me right in the eye. I'm still not sure which one it was."

"You healed while unconscious?"

"I wasn't so much unconscious as I was suffering from destruction of much of my grey matter."

"That should not be possible! Healing another necessitates great concentration, and healing oneself is far more difficult. Healing while unconscious should not be possible. Healing while brain dead is absurd!"

"I know, I know. Doc Frasier thinks it might be related to whatever Thor did to prevent my DNA from falling apart when Loki botched the cloning process."

"Doctor who? Never mind, that's not important. If that's what you suspect, I think it would be prudent to contact the Asgard on this matter."

"Yeah, we've called, they just haven't answered yet. I'm sure Thor will beam me up when he finds it most ironic."

"If you say so. What now?"

"Now?"

"Are we friends?"

"I don't know if I can trust you yet. But I plan to keep a close eye on you until I decide. Do you have any more admissions to make?"

"Hmm… I turned Daniel into a Prior after he downloaded Merlin's mind into his brain. He built the ascended-being-killing device for me so I could wipe out the Ancients."

"How'd that turn out for you? No, don't tell me. He betrayed you and that's how the Ori were wiped out?"

Adria nodded. "Exactly. That's another event in the timeline which mustn't be altered, not that it was very pleasant for Daniel." She sighed. "There's so many horrible things I was made to do. I believed I was in the right too. And now I have to stand back and let them all happen again, just to avoid causing something worse to happen. Looking back – or forward – I'm both annoyed that Daniel got the better of me, and relieved that he stopped me. The former is mostly a memory of what I used to be, but still…"

"You're not the first to underestimate Daniel, and you won't be the last."

"I kissed him too," she admitted awkwardly, colouring slightly.

"Heh… You're not the first alien woman to do that, and I expect you're not the last." He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Daniel you dog' under his breath.

"To be honest, I mainly did it out of jealousy towards my mother."

"Uh, right… history assignment?"

"We'd better work on it, or Morgan will wonder what I've been up to."

"Assignment it is," Calvin swiftly agreed.


	7. Buddy

Chapter 7 - Buddy

"Ready to call it a night?" Cal asked.

"I could probably take in more," Adria replied, taping the side of her head, "but I shouldn't stay out any later."

"Yeah," Cal agreed. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Adria nodded. "Thanks for helping me. While the history of your planet is not as long or as vast as the history of the Ori, it is certainly interesting."

"Uh, good. You'll have to tell me more about that some time." Cal then remembered that it might not be an easy subject to discuss. His inherited past certainly wasn't. "That is, if you don't mind talking about it."

"Some time, yes. I think it might be good to discuss our... unique issues."

"It might. Some time." Cal wasn't making any promises.

Adria gathered up her things. She turned to thank Cal again, and noticed the surprised look on his face. "Oh. I forgot to use my hands. I apologise."

"I'll get used to it. Just don't do it at school," Cal replied lightly.

Adria managed to grin without looking like a cat who'd caught a mouse. The result was quite striking, to the point that Cal could do no more than wave as his quest departed.

After she had gone, Cal exhaled deeply. "Of all the things I suspected, that wasn't one of them," he muttered. "That was weird." His musings were interrupted by a bright flash and change of scenery. "Oh, hi Thor."

"Greetings, Younger O'Neill," intoned the Supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet. "I have come in response to a message from Stargate Command. I would have transported you earlier, but my sensors indicated that you had company until now."

"Yeah, I was working on a history assignment with a friend from school," Cal explained, in case Thor had any misconceptions. "So... I had a bullet go through my brain. Why am I alive?" He figured he might as well get right to the point.

"The nanites I placed in your body to..."

Cal held up his hand. "Whoa there, buddy. I've got _nanites_?"

"They prevent your DNA from destabilising. It was the only way to prevent Loki's mistake from becoming fatal."

"Oh, fine, I see why you did it. But why didn't Doc Frasier detect anything?"

"The nanites are programmed to decompose into base elements the moment they leave your body," Thor explained.

"Stealthy. So, you were explaining..."

"These nanites were also responsible for repairing cellular and organ damage which resulted from your genetic breakdown. Since they are programmed for this function, they were able to repair your recent brain damage - in fact, they were compelled to do so. This rapid healling appears to have already been a great benefit."

"That's all well and good, but what if I was cut or bruised as the result of an accident, and these nanites were 'compelled' to heal me, in public. Wouldn't that be rather... suspicious?"

"Hmm, you make an excellent point. However, it is not possible to safely separate the functions of the nanites."

"So it's all or nothing. Death, or security risk. If only I could tell these... nanites when to delay healing."

"O'Neill, you may have done it again," said Thor excitedly.

"Oh?"

"A mind as advanced as your own could potentially control the nanites in the way you describe. While conscious, you could postpone the healing process, but if unconscious - such as your recent head injury - healing would be automatic, and your life would be spared."

"Hmm. That sounds... acceptable. All the benefits without the risk of discovery. Unless I'm almost dead, in which case I have other issues to worry about. So, count me in."

"I will need to scan your brain to ensure compatibility before enabling the link. It is based on technology of the Ancients. They often used mental control interfaces. While these are of no use to the Asgard race, I believe your genetic proximity would allow you to use this method."

"Great, I think. Scan all you like."

-

"The process was successful, O'Neill."

"Sweet. So the scans were all clear?"

"No problems were detected. However, your brain activity has increased since your last visit. I believe that the capabilities of your brain were in some way improved by its... recreation."

"Yeah, Doctor Frasier mentioned that. Perhaps I should get shot in the head more often. Uh, that was just a joke, Thor," Cal explained in response to Thor's horrified reaction.

"Actually, I believe it would be wise to practice controlling your nanites by inducing a much smaller injury."

"I should cut myself and try slowing down the healing?"

"If you want to prevent a security risk, yes."

"Fine, fine, I'll try it." A question raised by Adria came to him at that point. "Hey, Thor, I know you removed that Ancient database knowledge download from... the other me, but could any of it been left in there and copied over to me?"

"Memories cannot be completely erased without risk of damage. It is possible that an unknown amount of dormant information was copied to you by Loki's cloning process."

"How large an unknown amount?"

"As much as the entire repository. However, you would not be any more able to access it than the other O'Neill, and it poses no more threat to you than to him."

"That threat being zero?"

"That is correct."

"Good. But couldn't the whole nanite thing mess that up somehow?"

"That remains to be seen, but I believe there is no danger. However, I suggest I return to check on your progress a month from now."

"Sure, drop in for a chat, buddy."

"I shall. But for now I must bid you farewell and return you to your place on Earth."

"Thanks for everything. See ya round, Thor."

"You are welcome, O'Neill."

A.N.: yes, it's a shorter chapter (especially compared to the previous one) but this seemed like a sensible place to end. I hope you enjoyed it (and would love to hear if you did, or why you didn't :D)

In any case, thanks for reading!


	8. Which on First?

Chapter 8 – Which on First?

Warning: runaway comedy :P

-

_Tuesday, before class…_

Calvin locked up his bike and rubbed the tender spot on his wrist. It didn't really hurt, but there was a phantom pain from the injury he'd made and healed a few times before going to bed. It was weird to have to concentrate on preventing a wound from healing, but it was also reassuring to know his body would automatically heal itself.

"Calvinnnnnnn." An unwelcome sultry voice interrupted his thoughts.

Calvin suppressed a groan and turned to face the speaker. "Hello Harriet," he replied blandly. Not all the girls had 'backed off', but this was one whom he wished had.

The girl ran her long black fingernails through her black-streaked red hair. "I keep telling you: my friends call me 'Spark'."

"Yes. And I keep calling you 'Harriet'," Calvin said in a disinterested tone.

"Because you are so much more."

"So much more that I would rather not waste my time talking to you."

"Yes, let's not waste time talking."

"I suggest going somewhere else."

"I know the perfect place."

"Great. You go there, and I'll go to class." Cal couldn't hold back a smirk.

Harriet shot him a black look, which was made blacker by the weird patterns she'd drawn around her eyes. "Why do you never take me seriously?"

"Why don't you get a clue?" Cal started edging away, knowing he had to head for class soon.

The girl followed, not half finished. "Why do you ignore the possibilities?"

"Why do we keep having the same conversation?"

"Because I don't want to see you waste your potential."

"Then look the other way!"

"I must not neglect the duties of my position."

"And I'm not interested in your hocus-pocus."

Harriet shook her head sadly. "You should not insult the elements."

"You'd be better off learning the periodic table," Calvin quipped.

"You know I am not speaking of the chemical elements. I can see that you have a strong connection to Air…"

"It's called respiration." Calvin interjected.

"… just as I am connected to Fire."

"You mean you're a pyromaniac."

"I am Spark, Priestess of Fire," Harriet solemnly declared.

"You need a new hobby. Seriously. You should try hockey. Might knock some sense into you."

"Calvin, you should seriously consider participating in the enabling ritual."

"And join your club of people who pretend to control the elements just to feel important? Sorry, I'm quite capable of turning the air conditioning on and off without being a Priest of Air."

"You will gain more control as you use your abilities."

"So 'Drip, Priest of Water' has found a larger super soaker? Or is he messing around with fire hydrants now? Wait, he's the one who activated the sprinklers on the oval during football practice!" Cal realised.

"Was it not a glorious strike against the oppressors?"

Cal rolled his eyes. "You know as well as I do that the football team aren't oppressors. You just prank them for attention."

Harriet ignored him. "The power will be strong in the cafeteria today. I'll see you at lunch time."

"Not if I see you first." Cal ducked into his class before she had time to form a response.

-

"Witch alert!" Eric whispered to Calvin as they looked for an empty lunch table.

"Where?" 'Witch' was what Harriet was called by those who were not her friends. Apart from Cal, who tried to stay neutral in the hope that she'd eventually give up and move on.

"Don't look now, but she's behind you. I don't think… no, too late, she's seen you."

Cal's eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape. He spotted a familiar figure and quickly walked in that direction. "Hey, Adria! Over here." He waved to ensure that she spotted him, and she waved back. He quickened his steps, hearing Harriet's high heels following him. "Good to see you reached home safely," he began.

"Yes. I only met one mugger, and he didn't stay for long." She sounded serious, but no one could say for certain that she wasn't kidding.

"What's going on?" asked the girl next to Adria.

"I must have forgotten to mention it, Ria. Cal helped me studying history last night."

"You mean at your apartment?" asked Eric, who had followed.

"That's right," Cal replied plainly. "Adria, this is my pal Eric."

"Hello, Eric," Adria greeted.

"Uh, yeah, hi."

"This is my friend Maria. We met on the bus yesterday. But she goes by Ria," Adria introduced.

"Hi everyone," said Ria, who noticed Harriet slinking away from behind Cal.

Eric looked puzzled. "I thought you were all suspicious of her yesterday."

"I can be suspicious of someone and help them with history too," Cal replied.

"He certainly can," Adria agreed.

"Helping with history… is that like discussing Uganda?" Ria mused. Everyone looked at her blankly. "Never mind."

"As fun as it is to stand in everyone's path, I suggest we use one of the government-provided tables for its intended purpose," Cal casually suggested.

"You mean we should sit together?" Eric questioned.

"The four of us?" Ria added.

"I don't see why not."

"We might as well, since we're already in a conversation," Adria agreed.

"Oh look, there's Berry and Ick. I think they're calling me," said Ria quickly.

"There's enough room for them too," Adria replied.

"Um, fine, I'll call them over." She figured she could cope with sitting near one of the 'math geeks' if she had enough of her friends nearby."

"And here come Kev and Paul," added Eric, spotting the guys he and Cal had eaten with the previous day. "Might as well fill up the whole table."

-

As Adria waited for the afternoon bus to arrive, a girl she didn't recognise approached. "Who do you think you are?" the stranger demanded rudely.

"I'm Adria Mal Doran. Who are you, and what's that on your face?"

"I am Spark. I wear the sign of Fire."

"It doesn't look like a sign of fire to me," Adria replied honestly.

"Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about. And stay away from Calvin."

"For what purpose?"

"I saw him run to you in the cafeteria. You are distracting him from his true potential."

"What do you say his potential is?"

"He will be the Priest of Air."

"I don't believe such a position would interest him in the slightest."

"That is for him to decide. I won't have you influencing him."

Adria saw a serious flaw in the other girl's logic. "How could I be influencing him? I had not heard of such a thing until you told me."

Harriet ignored the rebuke. "Stay away from him. If I see you ignoring this warning, you will suffer serious consequences."

"I very much doubt that."

"I hold power you cannot comprehend."

Adria could not help but laugh. She wasn't mocking, she simply found that statement to be quite laughable. "Power? Really? What are you?"

"I am Spark, Priestess of Fire."

"You're a which?"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"That's what I said."

"You said what?"

"I said yes!"

"Yes what?"

"Yes, witch."

"I'm asking the questions here."

"And I'm answering."

"Answering which?"

"Yes, I am!"

"Am what?"

"Am witch."

"Which what?"

"Fire!"

"Fire? Where?"

"No, fire witch."

"Fire which what?"

"Priestess. Fire Priestess. Some say priestess, some say witch."

"What do they say?"

"Witch."

"And which do they say?"

"Yes, they do say witch! That's what I just said!"

"Did you say what, or witch?"

"Witch is what!"

"It is?"

"Yes!"

"Don't try to confuse me," Adria warned her. "It's perfectly possible to know what without knowing which."

"Perhaps, but now you know."

"I know what?"

"Me."

"I don't know who or what or which you are. So stop asking which."

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you!"

Ria chose that moment to arrive. "Hi Ads. Left my fave pen in study hall. Had to grab it. Before someone swiped it." She spoke short and hurried sentences, as she was out of breath from running.

"Ads?" Adria hadn't heard that one before.

Ria shrugged, and noticed who Adria had been speaking with. "What are you doing here, Witch?"

"Who?" Adria wondered.

"Witch."

"Which what?"

"No, just Witch, that's who."

"Witch is who?"

"Yeah."

Adria shook her head. "I'm not falling for that. What's-her-name was trying to convince me that which is what, and now you're saying that which is who. Nice try."

"'What's-her-name?' No, what isn't her name, Witch is."

"Huh? Which's her name?"

"Exactly."

"Exactly?" Adria wondered.

"Exactly!"

"So, she's exactly?"

"No, she's Witch."

"Which exactly?"

"Yes, exactly Witch."

"What exactly do you mean?"

Ria sighed. "Her name's Harriet."

"Who's name?"

"Witch's name."

"I asked first!"

Ria pointed at the redhead who was now glaring at them both. "She's Harriet."

"Oh. But you don't call her that, do you?"

"No one does, apart from Cal."

"So, what's your nickname for her."

"Witch."

"For Harriet!"

"Yes!"

"Yes?"

"Exactly!"

"Hang on, is it Yes or Exactly?"

"Huh?"

"What do you call Harriet?"

"Witch!"

"That one!"

"Witch!"

"The one standing right next to you, that's which Harriet!"

"Yes, exactly."

"Both yes and exactly?"

"Of course!"

"Harriet's nickname is Yes Exactly?"

"No, not at all."

"Then which is it?"

"Yes."

"Not exactly?"

"No, that's exactly it!"

"Exactly which?"

"Yes, Witch."

"I think I'll call her Harriet."

"Call her Witch."

"Harriet!"

"Quit arguing."

"I'm not arguing, I'm answering."

"Just don't call her Harriet, she doesn't like it."

"I don't like Witch either. Call me Spark," Harriet interjected.

"Do you have another name? A family name?" Adria asked.

"Watt."

"You know, a second name to come after your first one. Like how Mal Doran comes after Adria."

"Yes, that's it."

"What is?"

"Yes."

"Yes? And you'd better not say 'Exactly'!"

"My family name is Watt."

"That's what I want to know!"

"Watt!"

"I just told you!"

"So did I!"

"What did you tell me?"

"I told you, Watt!"

"You didn't tell me what!"

"Yes I did! And I'll keep telling you Watt until you get it!"

"Until I get what?"

"Yes, now you've got it?"

"I've got what?"

"You have."

"Have what?"

"You'd better."

"Um… if you say so." Adria tried a different tactic. "If the principal sent a letter to your parents, what family would it go to?"

"Watt family."

"Yours."

"Of course they are!"

"Who are?"

"My family are."

"Which family?"

"No, I'm the only one."

"The only what?"

"No, we're all Watts, I'm the only witch."

"Huh?"

"I'm just explaining who's what. All my family is Watt, but I'm the only witch. I suppose you could call me Witch Watt."

"I don't have the slightest idea now. And don't tell me who is what. Though if which is what and which is who, I suppose it would follow that who is what."

"I give up!" Harriet exclaimed. She stalked off, leaving the two friends to wait for the rather late bus.

"That went well," Ria remarked.

"She's not likely to try that again any time soon," Adria agreed.

"Try what?" Ria asked innocently.

Adria rolled her eyes. "But seriously, where did you get the idea for all that wordplay?"

"An old comedy. It's called 'Who's on first'. I'll hafta show it to you some time."

"Definitely," Adria agreed.


	9. Women With Advice

Chapter 9 – Women With Advice

"Hi, Morgan," Adria greeted when her guardian came home from her day in the department store. "Busy day?" She noticed an out-of-place scent and sniffed deeply. "Is that perfume?"

"A customer spilled it," Morgan explained. "And yes, it was a very busy day. What about you?"

"School's alright. I had fun with Ria. And I met a witch."

"You met a what?" Morgan was rather surprised when Adria fell over laughing. "What did I say?"

"Private joke," Adria inadequately explained when she got her breath back. "There's a girl who says she's a 'priestess of fire' just to get attention from people. She has a bunch of other students who do similar things, but they're just acting, and occasionally causing trouble for other groups of students. Ria told me that she – her name is Harriet – keeps trying to initiate Calvin into her group because he doesn't have many friends. But now he does have some so she told me to 'back off' or I would regret it."

"She's jealous," Morgan surmised.

"Oh?" Adria waited for Morgan to elaborate but she didn't. "Ria and I made a plan to confuse Harriet into leaving us alone. We shall see tomorrow if it worked."

"Be careful not to do anything you regret," Morgan warned.

"Always," the teen promised. "But it isn't easy. So many habits, so many memories of decisions I never made."

"With time, it will become easier," Morgan predicted. "You're learning quickly. Already, you have made friends and are experiencing fun.

Adria nodded. "It's been good so far. Except..."

"Except?"

"Some humans are so... foolish. Short-sighted."

Morgan nodded. "They all are, to some degree. So are we. Few know and understand their own shortcomings. You must, because you have great potential for good, or for evil."

"I know. We've already seen the evil part."

"You may know, but it is only the first step to doing."

-

Calvin gritted his teeth as the knife pierced the flesh of his arm. He focussed through the pain to slow down the Asgard nanites. Within ten seconds, the bleeding had stopped and the pain dulled. He prevented the wound from closing for another minute, but after two minutes it had completely vanished. Much too fast. He picked up the knife and tried again.

The doorbell rang with unexpected cheerfulness. Surprised, Calvin cut deeper than he intended, and yelped in pain. "Uh, who's there?" he called, wondering whether or not to hold onto the knife.

"It's Cassandra Frasier," a familiar voice answered.

"Oh. Just a second." Calvin wiped the knife clean and also his already-healed arm. "Cassie, what a surprise," he said after unlocking the door and allowing her to enter. "Did your mom send you?"

"Yeah, she did. I would have called you first, but mom didn't have your number and I didn't get a chance to ask you at school today. How are you?"

"Me? I'm great. No problems at all. Your mom fixed me up fine."

"No headaches, dizziness, lack of energy?"

"Nope, nothing like that."

"I'll take your word for it, Calvin. Is it safe to speak here?"

"Yes, the place is clean. Has your mom found something about why I healed so fast?"

"You mean, why you healed at all rather than dying," Cassie corrected. "Mom has a theory, but she can't tell me because of doctor-patient confidentiality. But if you don't have anything planned, I'm to invite you to our place for dinner."

"Isn't that on the other side of down?"

"I have a car, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure, I haven't had Janet's cooking in a while. But how do I know you aren't an alien or an NID agent in disguise, trying to kidnap me?" he asked cautiously.

"Uh… you could call my mom."

"Good thinking. Or you could tell me something I know only you would know."

"But we've barely met," Cassie countered.

"Oh, right," Calvin agreed, remembering that he wasn't Jack.

"And when have you had my mom's cooking?"

"Well, _I_ haven't, not really. I just have the memories of it."

"You have someone else's memories? Is that some kind of alien ability you have?"

"No, I was given them when I was… grown, by a renegade Asgard scientist."

"Oh. That's… different. Hey, does that mean you really _are_ a clone?"

"Yes, but don't tell the kids at school that."

"Wow. And I know better than to tell anyone. So… who are you a cl… no, don't tell me. Uncle Jack?"

"Am I that obvious?"

Cassie laughed. "I figured it out from the cover story. But you do act too much like a colonel."

"It's hard not to."

"Why'd you come back to school?"

Calvin shrugged. "I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it."

"Which self?"

He shrugged again. "Both, I guess."

"C'mon, we don't want to keep Mom waiting."

"We sure don't," Cal agreed, now quite sure that this was actually Cassie. He grabbed his phone, keys, and wallet and followed the girl out to her car. It was a cheap second-hand hatchback which was still in fairly good condition. Not fast, but alright for driving to school and back.

"I heard a rumour that you're interested in the new girl. Adria," Cassie prompted as they left Cal's neighbourhood.

"I helped her with our history assignment, that's all."

"Really?"

"She is an interesting person," he allowed.

"I thought you were into blondes," Cassie remarked with a wry grin.

"I'm my own person."

"Does that mean you like Adria?" she persisted.

"It means Jack's preferences aren't necessarily mine. By the way, that does not confirm in any way that Jack is 'into blondes'."

"Do you miss SG-1?"

"Yeah, I still feel like I should be out there, keeping them out of trouble. But I'll never belong with them. I'm not really sure where I belong."

"You'll find a new place to belong. I did."

"Yeah, you did. Right now, I think I belong in front of a plate of food."

"Indeed," Cassie agreed, intentionally mimicking Teal'c.

-

"Thanks, that was great, Doc. I mean, Janet."

"I can only imagine what it must be like, stuck with your own cooking," Janet remarked as she cleared away the plates.

"There's nothing wrong with my own cooking," Cal protested. "Don't tell Jack I said this, but we're quite capable of creating food without beer, that isn't burned or MREs."

"This I must see."

"Some day. So, what did you discover about my condition, Doc?"

Janet caught Cassie's attention. "Homework," she instructed. "I don't want her hearing anything that might endanger her."

"No. I'd rather not have told her who I am, but I couldn't easily avoid it."

"I understand. Now, to business. I haven't found anything specific, but there does appear to be an unusually high concentration of carbon in your blood samples."

"Carbon? Don't all organic molecules contain carbon?"

"Yes, they do. Good to see you've been paying attention to your chemistry classes," she teased. "But this isn't carbon in molecules, but carbon on its own."

"Like diamonds?"

"More like graphite. The only reason I can think for it to be there is if some sort of nanite composed of carbon has decomposed, leaving a carbon residue in your blood. I'm guessing they were programmed to self destruct if removed from the body."

"Yeah. Thor told me last night. They repaired my organs and keep my DNA from falling apart."

"You could have told me sooner." Janet sounded a little annoyed. Understandably so.

"Thor took care of it."

"Forgive me if I'm not so certain. Remember, I _am_ your doctor. I'm worried about the security risk. If someone sees you instantly healing a wound…"

"I'm practicing delaying the process. Thor did something so I can slow them down if I need to," Cal interrupted.

"That's good. But what do you mean by 'practicing'?"

Cal stayed silent.

"Calvin? You don't mean you're… That's terrible!"

"It has to be done," Cal weakly defended.

"But, the pain!"

"I can handle it."

"You shouldn't have to."

"And I shouldn't have to be a teenager, but that doesn't change anything," he protested.

"I could give you some painkillers," Janet suggested, feeling concerned about what the teen was subjecting himself to, even considering who he had once been.

"That would only make it more difficult. Besides, the pain goes away after a few seconds. I think the nanites take care of that first, because I'm trying to prevent them from any visible healing."

Janet considered this information, believing it held a solution. She quickly found one. "Could you make the nanites numb the area first?"

"I didn't think of that. It's worth a try."

"Yes, it definitely is. I don't like this, but if you must do it, I don't want you causing yourself unnecessary pain."

"If I want to live anything like a normal life, I have to learn to do this, Doc."

She nodded in understanding. "I expect to hear about this from you soon. I don't want you going through it alone."

'Not alone.' These words gave Calvin an idea, but not one he was willing to share with the doctor.


	10. Numb

Chapter 10 - Numb

_The next afternoon... (Wednesday)  
_

Adria decided she liked school. While some of the students tried her patience, others were generally friendly, and some had enough common sense that she didn't constantly feel the need to pity them. But the best part was the process of learning. It was refreshing to have someone actually teach her personally, rather than encode a massive body of knowledge into her DNA so it would unwind into her mind in a headache-inducing manner.

Other concepts she enjoyed were fun and friendship. As Orici, everything she did had a purpose. She always focussed on her mission. There were not opportunities to relax or be frivolous. Friendship was not a relationship that had been possible either. She'd had servants, masters, and enemies, but not friends. None could be completely trusted - she couldn't afford to trust.

She did not want to think about her mother. Such memories hurt most of all, as they were the most personal.

The strange thing about her new life was that it did not feel different. Making her own choices seemed no different to the subtle control of the Ori. While her will was now freer, it was not easy to distance her current decisions from all those which had been made for her. It felt like she was the same person who had either subjugated or slaughtered so many populations. Morgan had helped her learn to think differently, but it was not easy.

"Interesting carton of milk?"

"Hmm?" Adria looked up at Cal, who looked inordinately amused.

"You were staring at that carton as if it held the cure to cancer."

"Oh. I was lost in thought. About life. And the universe."

"And everything," Cal added, with an odd grin.

"I suppose."

"Hey, what did you and Ria do to Harriet yesterday? I heard she's been muttering random words to herself all day."

"Oh, we were 'simply' attempting to determine which Watt was what Witch."

"Huh?"

"Yes, like that."

"Oh. Say, I was wondering... that is, if you don't have anything else planned..."

"Just say it," Adria urged, resisting the temptation to end the suspense by reading his mind.

"Would you like to visit my place again, tonight? I kinda need your help."

"You want me to visit again? Will guns and knives be involved this time?"

Cal looked around furtively to see if anyone could have overheard that question. "No guns," he replied.

"Intriguing. I'll be there," Adria promised. It couldn't be worse than the last time.

-

"Sooooo... what are we doing with knives?" Adria asked as Cal let her inside. "What are you looking at?"

Cal had noticed that his visitor was wearing a rather tight long-sleeved white top with black slacks. "You might get blood on that," he worried, trying to un-distract himself.

"We shall be cutting up something alive?" she guessed.

"It's about my rapid healing ability. I have a bunch of Asgard nanites which keep me from dying. Loki's Xerox machine doesn't work too well."

"Zeerocks?"

"I'm a cheap clone."

"Oh. So, the nanites keep you from dying, and cause you to heal quickly. How does this lead to cutting?" Adria inquired.

"It would be a big problem if I was hurt in public. I need to learn to delay the healing until I can do it in private."

"By cutting yourself and focusing on slowing the nanites. I assume you know you can affect them?"

"Yeah, my Asgard buddy, Thor, rigged that up after last time you were here. I've had a little success, but I have a long way to go."

"I do not yet understand why I am needed," Adria stated.

"It's a rather painful process. It is hard to concentrate on the nanites while I'm in pain. Do you think you could numb my arm like you did to my foot when I dropped the knife the other night?"

"I believe I could."

"Good. Don't overdo it - I think I'll need some sensation so I can feel what's happening."

"How will doing this without pain help you when you are actually in pain?" Adria wondered.

"I hope that once I learn to control them properly, I'll be able to do in under... less favourable conditions."

"I believe it is worth a try," Adria encouraged. "Let's begin."

-

After an hour, Cal had become well practiced in disabling the healing nanites. It had reached the point that he hardly had to think to continue to suppress the rapid repair once it had been initially halted. Thanks to Adria, the learning process was almost pain-free.

"You're doing very well," she commented. "Shall we see if you can do it in a more realistic situation??"

"Yeah, we better see how good at this I really am." He held the knife above his arm, but Adria interrupted with another idea.

"When you do it, you know to expect it. Perhaps I should make the wound."

Cal quickly considered the idea. "Yeah, you do it," he agreed, passing her the knife.

Adria stared at the knife in her hand. "You trust me that much?" she asked, a little surprised.

Cal shrugged, not wanting to appear too serious. "You don't need a knife to kill me. It's not a big deal. And with or without a knife, the nanites will protect me."

"But you can defend yourself with a knife," she argued. "Giving it up can't be easy for you."

"Okay, so I do trust you a bit."

"Even though I'm responsible for..."

"That wasn't you and I can see that you don't want to be that person. I don't know if the other me would trust you, but I..." While Cal was distracted, Adria slashed his arm with the knife. Before either of them knew what was happening, he had reflexively disarmed her and driven the blade through her hand.

"Aaaahhh!" she squealed. "Why..."

"I – I didn't meant to... are you alright?" he stammered in concern.

"I will live."

"I'm really, _really_, sorry about this," he told her sincerely.

"It is my fault. I did not realise that you had such fast reflexes."

"Appearances can be deceiving. And hey, it hasn't healed yet, see?"

"Well done." She looked at the wound and pulled the knife out of her own, noticing the mixed trails of bright sticky blood they had produced. "I suppose we are now 'blood kin'," she suggested.

"Yeah, something like that. If Daniel was here, he'd be listing a bunch of tribes and rituals with funny sounding names. It doesn't mean much to me, apart from the mess. And now you've got blood on your white top," he noticed. "You'll need to wash that out... or clean it with your funky mind powers," he amended as she did just that.

"I did not wish to explain that to Morgan," she told him.

"Yeah, that would... whoa..." Suddenly Cal didn't feel so well.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"Kinda dizzy and... ouch, headache."

"Do you need anything? Should I..."

"Pretty lights," Cal muttered, before slumping forward.

"Calvin? Cal? Wake up! Hello?"

Cal didn't respond.


	11. Responsibility

Chapter 11 - Responsibility

The primary component of the Stargate is a solid naquadah ring. This serves a dual purpose. Primarily, it forms a superconductor which stores the massive amount of energy required to create an artificial wormhole. On the other end, the superconducting ring generates a sizable footprint in subspace, which attracts the incoming torrent of energy like a lightning rod.

Massive capacitors govern the flux of energy in and out of the ring. Data crystals store energy patterns, allowing matter to be buffered so objects remain intact. The event horizon flawlessly demolecularizes all objects that enters it, and reforms them on the other end. The crystals store quantum states without collapsing them, allowing perfect certainty they will be accurately preserved.

The buffers and matter stream functions in a single direction. This is an important safety requirement. Objects can not simultaneously enter and exit, as they might collide, explode, or simply overwrite one another in the buffer, causing parts of objects to make an unintended round-trip. Colliding matter streams would result in significant interference, and subsequent loss of matter integrity.

The destination is set by...

Hang on for a moment...

How do I know all this? I sound like Carter, for crying out loud! I shouldn't be able to understand any of those equations, but they all make perfect sense. This has to be a nightmare.

"Calvin?"

Or maybe not.

"Wake up, Cal!"

Nightmares don't usually have angels. "Whoa, what happened?" Cal asked woozily as he opened his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position.

"You collapsed," Adria told him plainly, though she looked worried. "It may have been blood loss."

"Nah, I didn't lose that much. And blood loss doesn't make me dream I know everything about the Stargate."

"You dreamed that?"

"Yeah, but it seemed like I truly knew and understood it. Wait... I still do. That's just _wrong_."

"The nanites must have brought the knowledge into your mind," Adria figured.

"Hmm, makes sense. After all, I _was_ trying to connect to the nanites with my mind. Reminds me of the... Orbanians, kinda."

"Who are they?"

"Some people we met on our travels about the galaxy. They put nanites in some of their kids' brains so they could learn a whole lot, and then distributed them to the rest of the population, to share the knowledge around. It didn't turn out so well for the kids, but it improved after I - after Jack taught their generator expert how to have fun."

"Nanites in their brains..." Adria mused.

"Yeah. Since I recently had my brain rebuilt by nanites, well, that could explain it. It must have overwhelmed me, temporarily."

"But you're alright now?" she checked.

"Yep, never better. Except that now I know _way_ too much about how the Stargate works," Cal complained.

"Is that all?"

"Probably not. I wonder what's in here about the Ori…" Cal mused.

"I'm not so sure that's a good…" Adria began to warn.

Another bunch of facts – including the Book of Origin – popped to the front of Cal's mind. "Too late. Yeouch, I never want to hear the words 'hallowed are the Ori' ever again," he declared, not tat he'd actually heard it yet.

"Me neither," Adria agreed, though technically she wouldn't hear it until several years in the future. "You are fortunate you don't have the entire knowledge of the Ori encoded into your DNA. It gave me pretty bad headaches as it filled my mind wile I was growing up, and I grew up as a rather high speed. The information was rather overwhelming at times. I don't know whether it will be like that for you."

"I hope not. It's very different for me. The knowledge is available, but if we're right, it's not actually part of me. So it can't take over my mind. It's just there for whenever I need to access it. I hope," Cal explained. "Janet will go wild over this. If I tell her."

"Janet? Who's she?"

"Doctor Janet Frasier. She's the chief medical officer at the SGC. You may have heard of her in the future."

"Hmm… I don't think so. Maybe… oh!"

"What is it? What's wrong?" Cal asked, seeing Adria's subdued expression.

"She – she's dead."

"Dead? How?"

"I'm not sure I want to remember. What if I… you know what I mean," Adria said uncertainly.

"You would have already remembered if that was the case," Cal reasoned.

"Or I may have blocked it from my memory because I didn't want to remember," Adria argued back.

"I don't think so. Please remember, Adria. For me. I need to know."

"I… alright, I'll do it." Adria began to concentrate on her vast store of memories, hunting for the relevant ones. "It was well before I was born," she said in relief. "Jaffa. Staff blast. An ambush. She went off-world to treat an injured man who couldn't be moved – his wife was due to give birth. The man survived and named his daughter 'Janet'. Daniel was with her and caught it on video."

"Daniel told you all that?"

"He had to prove I could trust him. It didn't stop him from betraying me, however."

Cal quickly returned to the original topic. "When does it happen? Janet, I mean."

"I do not know a particular date."

"Do you know any more details?" Cal hoped she had enough information for him to predict the tragic event.

"Daniel had been asked to record because a video team was making a 'documentary' about the SGC."

That certainly wasn't something Cal expected to hear. "What? Why? Who's crazy idea was that?"

"The President ordered it. He wanted it made because his term was nearly over," Adria reported.

"Ah, I get it. But that means it's this year. Do you remember the name of the man who was injured?"

"I might. It was… Wells," Adria remembered.

"Great, that should give me a close enough time frame."

"For what? You're planning something," Adria realized from Cal's face.

"We can't let her die," Cal reasoned.

"I cannot change the future, or the Ori might succeed. You know what that means now," Adria protested earnestly.

"Saving Janet can't help the Ori."

"It creates another unknown influence on the outcome. My existence alone could change the outcome, even if I don't actively do anything one way or the other."

"In that case, how does saving Janet make any difference?"

"It increases the chance of something going wrong, and makes it harder to predict the outcome."

"We can't just let her die. Now that we know, letting it happen is no different to killing her ourselves. That's what Daniel would say, and this time I agree with him. And with what we know, and the tricks we can pull, I'm sure we can find a way to ensure the Ori are stopped regardless."

Adria sighed in resignation. "You're right. We have the responsibility to find a way. But we have to do it without anyone knowing. As soon as anyone discovers that I am from the future, and that I'm a formerly-ascended superhuman with the knowledge of the Ori, formerly under their control, and the head of their army in this galaxy…"

"You'll be locked up, drugged and poked with wires before anyone can say 'Kinsey'. Any idea what becomes of him?"

"I think he gets killed in an explosion in space. After being Goa'ulded."

"I pity the snake that shares his head," Cal declared with a wicked grin.


	12. It Only Takes a Spark

Chapter 12 – It Only Takes a Spark

_Thursday..._

The next morning, Adria found Cal before class. "Did you sleep well?" she inquired.

"Eh… does it look like I slept well?"

"Not really," she admitted.

"There's a lot of weird stuff floating around in my head at the moment. I think I actually dreamed I was an electron for a while."

"You should try not to be so negative," Adria suggested.

Cal stared, blinked, and nearly fell over laughing. "I should have seen that one coming."

Adria smirked, feeling rather pleased with herself. "I knew it was humourous, but I did not expect you to go orbital."

"You may have a few funny lines, but can you keep the frequency?"

"If I stay positive."

"While I'm negative? Remember, opposites attract."

"Yes, but to what end? If you're an electron, a proton may capture you, but a positron will annihilate you."

"Unfortunately, you must be a positron. Protons have a much higher mass than electrons." Being annihilated was, after all, far safer than making an uncomplimentary remark about a woman's weight.

"A positron can be described an electron travelling backwards through time," Adria pointed out.

"Fitting. But we'd better get to class."

"Correct," Adria agreed. As the pair left for separate destinations, neither noticed the displeased figure watching from a safe distance.

-

"Adria Mal Doran," purred a dark voice.

The girl named turned to face the speaker, who stood behind her in the cafeteria line. "Harriet Watt. How nice to see you again," she answered, oozing insincerity.

"I gave you a warning," Spark began.

"You did," Adria answered lightly, as if she hadn't a care in the world.

"You do not take me seriously," the other girl observed, still trying to sound menacing.

"Priestess of the Obvious, was that it?"

"Fire," Spark whispered harshly. "I will teach you to respect me."

"First, learn to be respectable," Adria suggested 'helpfully'.

"You should respect your betters," Spark explained.

"I do." She respected Morgan. Usually. "What makes you think you are better than me?"

"Does fire do your bidding?"

Adria dodged the question. "How do I know it does yours?"

"I have a way we can settle this once and for all."

"Oh?" Adria arched an eyebrow imperiously.

Spark slowly enunciated, "Showdown at midnight."

"Location?"

"Can you make the school parking lot?"

"I'll be there. One-on-one, no weapons?"

"Deal. May the most powerful one win. Winner takes all," Spark decreed.

"All?"

"Respect. And Calvin."

Adria shrugged. "If it means you leave us alone."

Spark smirked. "You'd have to win for that to happen."

-

News travelled fast, and Cal tried to catch Adria after school. Cassie found him first. "Hey, Calvin, wait up."

"Cass, here to interrogate me, I presume?"

"Yup," Cassie replied with an unashamed grin.

"You can tell your mom not to worry, and that I've found a successful pain-free method which I'm not at liberty to discuss. Everything's fine." Apart from Janet's imminent death and the Ancient knowledge wandering through his brain. Fortunately he'd survived all his classes.

"You know she'll want to give you a checkup, regardless of what you say," Cassie reminded him, not that she fully understood his message.

"That's a fact of life," Cal agreed.

"Yeah, so... I hear you studied with Adria again last night," Cassie began.

"Yeah. Have you mentioned her to Janet at all?"

"No, why?"

"It would be best if you don't. Ever."

"Calvin?"

"It's complicated, and very, very classified. More than you and me. Understand?"

"Okay. I trust Jack, so I'll trust you."

"Thanks, Cass, I appreciate it."

"Well?"

"Well what?" Cal asked, clueless.

"Last night," Cassie prodded.

"Oh. We're just friends, really."

"Riiight. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow." Knowing the bus would have left already, Cal instead collected his bike and planned to call Adria once he arrived home.

-

Note: A proton is 1,836.15266 times heavier than an electron!


	13. Lost in Fire

Chapter 13 – Lost in Fire

"What's this I hear about you challenging Harriet to some kind of showdown?" Cal inquired pointedly.

There was an uncomfortable silence on the line. "How do you know about that?"

"News travels fast."

"Oh. Well it isn't true."

"No?"

"No. She challenged me. I accepted."

"Same result."

"Any other questions?" Adria asked blandly.

"Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?"

"Nothing I am unable to handle. Maria says she tried to frighten people by burning flash paper. Do you know what that is, Cal?"

"I've seen her do it."

"Good, Ria had to explain it to me."

"What are you going to do to her?"

"Just scare her a little."

"But what if she tells people?"

Adria made a dismissive sound. "If she dares, no one would believe her. You forget who we're talking about: a phony attention-seeker, I believe she would be called."

"Yeah, to put it politely. Fine, but be careful." Not exactly the firm negative he'd intended to give the whole idea.

"Careful? You forget who you're talking _to_. I don't need to be careful."

"Adria..."

Adria chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't really mean that. I'll be careful."

"Oh, very funny," Cal replied, unamused. "I'll, uh, see you tomorrow."

"And don't even think of following me. I'll know."

"Never crossed my mind."

"Liar."

"Mind-reader."

"Geek."

"Supergirl."

"What exactly does that mean?" Adria wondered, switching from teasing to serious.

"I'll show you some time. Um... any questions about homework?" Cal wasn't sure where to take the conversation next.

"No, I think I'll be fine."

"Great, great. I'll see you tomorrow. Good luck."

"Thanks."

Cal put down the phone and shrugged. He hadn't expected to talk her out of anything, but it had been worth a try.

-

_Midnight... (first moments of Friday)  
_

Two contestants stood in the middle of the dark parking lot. They were two shadows in the night, staring into one another's eyes. One wore a look of arrogant contempt, the other showed practiced boredom. 'Witch' looked away first. "I thought you would chicken out."

"You were badly mistaken," Adria fired back, with a hint of danger. "How do we proceed?"

"We demonstrate our... _fire_power. I'll go first."

Adria nodded in agreement. "Show me what little you can do."

"Little? Pah! Taste the power of Spark, Priestess of Fire!" She held up her balms, and tongues of fire briefly licked the air. Her face was shown in the eerie glow, what parts of it weren't obscured by weird silver jewellery and strange painted black designs. "See what I'm capable of? You didn't expect that, did you? I suggest you run away before you get hurt," Harriet prompted, trying to instil and use fear.

"I believe it is my turn," Adria stated coolly.

Harriet shrugged. "I've heard soaking yourself in gasoline gives an impressive result," she idly taunted.

Adria's eyes lit up with flames.

"Uh... fancy contacts?" 'Spark' rationalised uncertainly.

Flames encircled the former Orici's young body. She flung out her arms and twin fireballs shot past Harriet's head, causing her to flinch at the heat. "Can you do that?"

"Er... with the right preparations..."

Adria raised her arms, and in response a circle of fire surrounded the girls. At the same time, her jeans and blue sweater were replaced with the image of an ornate red costume like she had 'worn' in Celestis while ascended. "Match this, or admit defeat."

Harriet wore a frantic expression, broadcasting how threatened she felt. "I must perform the proper ritual," she said forcefully, trying to eliminate the jitters from her voice.

"Ritual?"

"Yes, it will not take long." Harriet produced a curved antique blade from the back of her belt and held it up to the starlight. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"We agreed not to bring weapons," Adria reminded.

"This is not a weapon, but a sacred ceremonial knife. I do not intend to fight with it."

"What is this ceremony you speak of?"

"A blood sacrifice," the girl known as 'Witch' revealed as she thrust the knife at her enemy's midriff. The blade slowed as it came near to its target, due to the influence of Adria's protective shield. In the next instant, the attacker felt an unexplained force throw her onto her back. The knife clattered to the ground with a drop of blood smeared on the tip. Fortunately the wall of fire had died out.

"What did you hope to achieve through such an action?" Adria demanded harshly. "Surrender now. Further struggle is futile." Her eyes lit up with flames once again.

Harriet scooped up the knife in preparation for a second attempt at 'sacrifice'. "You will die, and I will have your power!"

Adria felt a burst of rage toward the foolish human who mistakenly challenged her. With hardly a thought, she defended herself and eliminated the pitiful threat, something she had done countless times as the Orici. Harriet's movements were cut off by a furnace-blast of fire. Within seconds, all that remained was a blackened husk, and a small pool of molten metal.

Awareness of what she had done slowly dawned. She had killed a human, and had done it without the Ori making the decision for her.

-

Note: I'm surprised at how short this is, considering the amount of time I put into procrastination. Oh... oops!


	14. Keeping it on the Down Low

Chapter 14 – Keeping it on the Down Low

Adria was terrified as she stared at the charred body of Harriet Watt. Terrified of her own power and potential for evil. She sickened herself. A small part of her mind told her this feeling was a good thing – she had felt no such remorse in her previous life. She had been a monster, she realised. A monster with the powers of life and death. It was then that she saw the truth: her capacity to be evil was equalled by her capacity to do good. Now the choice was hers.

In a rush to undo the harm she had wrought, Adria gripped the cadaver by the shoulders and forced life into it. Cells were reordered, chemicals de-oxidised, and entropy reversed. Natural smooth texture was restored to skin, which reflected the pale light. Adria felt the energy drain from her as a viable body reformed before her eyes.

Harriet lay cold and lifeless on the merciless concrete. Her body was functional, but inanimate. "Wake up," Adria instructed, with the same authority she had used to bring back Jaffa she wished to interrogate.

Light returned to Harriet's eyes. She blinked, and gasped for breath. "I... I feel all tingly."

Adria nodded slightly, and reached down to give the girl a hand getting to her feet.

"I feel as if I was... dead," Harriet speculated.

Adria nodded again.

Harriet's memories flashed back, and she immediately dropped to her knees to bow. "You are a true goddess," she said in utter awe. "Forgive me for my unbelief and mockery." She was scared, afraid of punishment.

Adria was lost for words. She had no idea how to respond. Denial would get her nowhere – it was obvious she had power. She couldn't tell the truth – it was too much to explain, included many things that were not for her to reveal, and would never be believed. And she didn't want Harriet or anyone else worshiping her. It was an abuse of power, and she didn't deserve it, especially not after temporarily killing the girl. Finally, she elected to play along, but make the matter drop. "Stand up, Harriet."

The girl rose. "What would you have me do?"

"I need a favour."

"Anything! Ask and I'll obey."

Adria shook her head. "I wish to be normal. I don't want anyone to treat me specially. No worship, no glory, not from anyone. No one can know what happened, or what I am."

"You ask a difficult thing."

Adria nodded slowly. "I have a... mission to complete."

"You're undercover, as a human?"

"That's right." When in doubt, agree.

"You can count on me. I won't say a word."

"Also, I suggest you find a better way to occupy your time."

"No more 'Spark'? But it's the perfect cover!"

"For vandalism and frightening your peers?"

"Oh."

"Infamy is a bad way to gain attention of others. No one will like you if you act in an unlikable fashion."

Harriet sighed dramatically. "Fine. You're right. It's just... I liked imagining I was someone special."

"I've heard it said that no one can _be_ more special than another person. You can only _do_ special. You are no less special than I."

"Do you really believe that?"

"I try. There was a time when I didn't. Since then, I've been shown otherwise."

"We... I'd better get home. Before someone notices I snuck out."

"Me too," Adria agreed. Then she muttered to herself, "But there's no way Morgan won't notice."

Harriet heard her. "Good luck. Oh, and Calvin's yours. Have fun."

"Huh, what...?" But Harriet had fled. Adria sighed. "I guess she'll leave him alone now. I hope it's worth the trouble."


	15. Temporary Toast

Chapter 15 - Temporary Toast

_(Still Friday)_

The next afternoon, Cal knocked tentatively on the door to Adria's apartment. She's decided it was time to study at her place for a change, so here he was. And so was she, opening the door for him. "Hello Cal, come right in. This is my guardian, Morgan Strange," she introduced, pointing out the woman behind her.

"Hi, I'm..."

"I know all about you," Morgan pleasantly cut in. "Explanations are not necessary."

"Oh. Of course they aren't. Umm..."

"Have some cake," Morgan generously offered.

"Thanks. Cake would be great." After consuming a delicious piece he asked, "Adria? What's up with Harriet today? She's been all but invisible. Either she's planning something, or she's very afraid of you."

"I might have accidentally slightly killed her. Briefly," Adria admitted.

"'Slightly' killed?" Cal asked dubiously. "'Briefly'?"

"She tried to stab me and I overreacted."

Morgan helpfully supplied, "The girl became toast."

"Toasted? You can fix that?"

"Such restoration is possible. I was given great power by my creators. Morgan is instructing me in how to use the power to do good. It is difficult at times. Human emotions are not easy to control."

Cal nodded. "If Teal'c was here, he'd make you watch Star Wars."

Morgan nodded in approval. "The Jaffa have much wisdom in such matters."

"Fortunately Teal'c isn't here, so we can choose something else for a change. Preferably not science fiction. My life has too much of that already."

"Let's forget about all that and go study Earth's history," Adria suggested.

"And ignore the reason why you don't know Earth's history," added Cal.

"And the reason why you remember experiencing more of it than you should," Adria returned.

"Says the one who tried to wipe out Earth."

Morgan sighed aloud. "I would tell you two to act your age, but it seems you are, technically.

Cal and Adria rolled their eyes.

-

_Later…_

Adria snapped shut her textbook. "That's enough for one night."

Cal nodded. "Yeah, I can't take much more of this."

"I thought it would be easy for you, since you've already learned it all."

Cal shrugged and packed away his books. "Having to study the same thing twice isn't my idea of a good time."

Adria almost smirked. "No wonder your people rejected Origin. Will reject origin." The whole time travel issue of tenses was still hard to get used to.

"We try to play our short attention span as a positive."

The comment drew a smile. "Your planet is very unique. But enough about history. How is your head?"

Cal shrugged again. "Sometimes I get the oddest bits of information popping into my mind, usually somehow related to what I'm thinking or doing. But it's not as bad as it was yesterday, and it's not anything like what happened the first time. I'm not accidentally speaking Ancient or uncontrollably building gadgets and gizmos. That doesn't mean I don't have plenty of ideas about how to build them. But the nanite things seem to be protecting my brain from overloading."

Adria nodded slowly. "That's good to hear. You did appear distracted in class a few times."

"Yeah, it's hard not to correct the teacher during science classes. But I doubt any of the teachers would understand a word of it." He sighed and muttered, "Now I know what it's like for Carter and all the other geeks. I _am_ one now. They must never find out, or I'll never hear the end of it. I'll never have peace, or freedom."

"Do you really think you should keep this from them? The knowledge you hold is very valuable."

Again Cal sighed and shook his head, because he didn't have a clear answer. "Maybe I'm not supposed to. Maybe you won't supposed to help me practice using the nanites, and Thor was supposed to suck them out of my head. Do you know if the SGC are supposed to gain access to the Ancient database?"

"I think I remember something about that from Daniel... but I can't remember the details, so I do not know how it would affect the future destruction of the Ori. Morgan might know more about it."

"Yes, Morgan," Cal replied Jackishly.

"Come, and I shall ask her," Adria beckoned.

-

"Will the SGC use the knowledge of the Repository of Knowledge?" Morgan echoed. "Why do you ask?"

"Thanks to Loki and Thor, I can access the buried copy I 'inherited'. I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to share it," Cal explained. "I'd rather not, as they'll never let me live in freedom. It's bad enough having my original's memories: I'd be under constant surveillance if Jack didn't know I'd notice immediately."

"I see. You can be sure that it will not be necessary to share the knowledge, as the SGC will find another repository at the proper time. Beyond that, I should not say."

"Thanks, that was... informative."

"She told you exactly what you need to know," Adria defended.

"True, and she didn't even use riddles," Cal agreed. "Uh, sorry about that, Ma'am. I should... leave."

"We shall continue our discussion of future events in due course," Morgan answered.

"I give you my thanks for assisting in my studies. I shall see you at school tomorrow," Adria told him.

"Tomorrow," Cal agreed. "And you've really got to work on speaking less formally."

"I shall endeavour to do as you suggest."

"Now you're just messing with me," Cal responded, thinking of Teal'c.

"Perhaps," Adria answered enigmatically.

-

Notes: sorry for the slow update! I wrote this chapter very incrementally in sudden bursts over the last month. It really shouldn't have taken so long...


	16. Living Between Classes

Note: no, I haven't forgotten about this fic. Only one scene in this chapter but it's a pretty important one :D

Enjoy!

-

Chapter 16 – Living Between Classes

_The next Monday..._

"Hey! Clone!"

Cal stifled a groan and he recognised the source of the yells. "What's up, Abe, guys?"

Abe approached, and his lackeys moved to surround Cal. "Not our History grades, thanks to you," Abe replied.

Backpedalling to prevent encirclement, Cal replied, "Chill, I told you that you should be able to do well if you tried hard. And then I was in the hospital for a few days. Don't blame me for your grades."

Cal's brilliant logic was swiftly ignored. "Whatever. There's an English assignment due next week…"

"Whoa, whoa!" Cal raised his palm in a 'stop' gesture. "English? Have you _seen_ any of my English work? Trust me, you don't want my help with English."

Abe looked thoughtful. "Fine. How about we cut a deal? You 'help' us with the next History assignment, and we'll pass the answers to the English assignment on to you, after we acquire them."

"Do I look stupid?" He'd have to be to think he could get away with duplicating an English paper.

"Huh?"

"Seriously. Do I?"

"Uh, no," Abe answered.

"Well there's your answer," Cal replied breezily. "But if you want tutoring, we could arrange a group session. I've already got one… what do you call a person who you tutor? Not good at English, here. I have one of those, so what's a few more?"

"You mean the new girl? We wouldn't want to interrupt your 'study' time," Abe replied nastily.

"If you need the help, you're welcome to," replied a new voice from behind the bully. "Is there a problem?"

Abe turned to find that he'd been talking about the girl behind his back. "Well if it isn't Clone's pupil herself! I'll deal with you in a minute, baby."

Adria raised an eyebrow. "Did he just call me 'baby'?" she asked Cal.

Cal nodded in mock seriousness. "Yes, he did."

"Does that count as irony?" she wondered. She was still in the process of learning the details of humour.

"I think it does. Good catch," Cal replied.

"Huh? What are you two yammering about?"

"I think they're making fun of you, Abe," a lackey replied.

"You think this is a joke, do you?" Abe forcefully asked Cal.

"It's complicated," Cal hedged. "We'd better get to class. Find me later if you want that tutoring."

"Oh no you don't! We've got another…" Abe checked the clock, "five minutes until class."

Cal forced himself to stay calm. "If you want to talk, fine. What's on your mind?"

Abe briefly looked stalled, but found his tongue soon enough. "Actually, I'd like a word with your girl. Adria, right?" he asked, shifting his attention to the girl in question.

"Correct," she stated blandly.

"Clone here says he's tutoring you in history. If you want an easier line to the answers, I can help you out. If you have something to offer in return. What subjects are good at?"

"You ended that sentence with a preposition!" Cal protested. Fortunately Abe ignored the jibe.

"Unarmed combat," Adria coolly responded.

"Oh, so you like to get physical?"

"No," was Adria's firm reply.

Abe did not take the apparent contradiction well. "Lose the nonsense and try to make sense. You don't want to mess with me."

Adria smiled coldly. "In fact, you do not want to mess with me."

"Let it go, Adria. Abe, seriously, you don't want to push her," Cal warned.

"I'll push whoever I want to push." Abe reached up to grab Adria's shoulders.

Before anyone had a chance to intervene, Abe rocketed into a wall and collapsed in a slump. He stopped in a roughly sitting position with his neck bent to the side at an impossible angle. Adria rushed to him before anyone could inspect the body closely. "Abe, are you alright?" she asked for show as she placed a gentle hand on his neck.

There was no response.

Adria concentrated harder on healing the damage. "Wake up," she told him. Life returned to his glassy eyes, and he stirred slightly.

"Abe?" "Man, are you alright?" some of his pals asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. What happened?" Abe asked as he stood.

"What did happen?" a lackey accusingly asked Adria.

"He tripped."

"No, there's no way..."

"He tripped," Adria repeated forcefully.

"Right, yeah, he tripped."

"I… tripped," Abe echoed.

"We need to go to class," Adria added in the same strong tone. Abe and his friends nodded and slunk away.

Cal shook his head in disapproval. "Adria, you…"

"Class. Now," Adria interrupted, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked badly shaken, and Cal could tell that behind her mask she was actually quite upset.

"Alright, but we _are_ going to talk about this later," Cal promised his classmate.

"Later," she whispered. She turned and delicately walked away, seeming to move as if she feared she would tear the air.

Cal nervously bit his lip, and then remembered that he needed to get to class. If he ran – and wasn't seen and stopped – he could still make it in time. If not… well, there were worse things than detention. For instance, a girl with godlike power and a short temper running loose in the school. He had to find a way to deal with that situation soon. After all, there's a limit to the number of resurrections that can be performed before someone notices.


	17. No Apron, No Cake

Chapter 17 – No Apron, No Cake

Note: I edited several of the previous chapters to put weekdays in. (No other changes.) I found that I already had school days Monday-Friday (Adria's first day and Cal's first day back being the Monday, and the very early minutes of Friday being when the Adria vs. Harriet showdown took place). Which means that since today is also a school day, it must be Monday and there has been a weekend between chapters 15 and 16 which no one has mentioned. Yet. I hope that doesn't confuse anyone.

_After school…_

Maria slid into the seat beside Adria. "How's it going, Ads?"

Adria turned towards her new friend as the bus pulled away from the school. "I'm settling in, gradually."

"That's great. Um, I heard you had a bit of trouble with Abe and company."

"Yeah, a little."

"Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Come on, it's not that bad," Ria encouraged.

"It could have been," Adria replied quietly.

Ria put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "You mean if Abe hadn't tripped? I don't think he would have tried anything with you out in the hall right before class, especially with Cal around. Sure, they had you outnumbered, but no one really wants to cross Call too much. Not since the whole holdup incident. They know Cal's not afraid of anything, and he wouldn't let anyone hurt you."

Adria shook her head. "I'm not afraid of anyone hurting me."

"Then what are you afraid of?"

Adria stared out the window for a long minute. "It's just… stuff. That problem I had with my mother."

"Religious differences, right?"

"Something like that," Adria tentatively agreed.

"Reminds me of a joke. A guy says, 'My wife and I divorced over religious differences. She thought she was god, and I didn't.' You heard that one before?"

"No, but… it was like that. I was worse than Harriet," Adria admitted.

"Really? Wow, I can't imagine that. I guess that explains how you could help her sort out her problem."

Adria shrugged.

"What does that have to do with Abe?"

"I just… I worry the urge to defend myself might… cause a relapse."

"Oh. Do you have some kind of medication for it?"

"For what?"

"Uh, I figured it was some kind of… condition?"

"Condition?" Adria briefly let herself read her friend's surface thoughts. "Oh, I see what you mean. No, it's nothing like that."

"Oh, I'm sorry for assuming. It's just that… some people have a genetic predisposition to problems like misperception of reality. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"It was more of a categorical error," Adria muttered.

"Huh? What was that?"

"Nothing."

"If you ever need to talk..." Ria offered.

"Thanks. For caring. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome. Always. So… how was your weekend? Do anything fun? I finally reorganised my scrapbooks."

"Morgan had me clean our apartment from top to bottom. She's big on cleanliness."

"Yeah, 'cleanliness is next to godliness' and all that."

"Huh?"

Ria realised that wasn't the right phrase to use, given the issues at which her friend had hinted. "Sorry, forget that. What about fun? 'Cos cleaning isn't fun."

"Well, I watched some TV, and…"

"And?" Ria prodded.

"I started a diary," the former Orici quietly admitted. Ria opened her mouth to ask further questions, but Adria beat her to it. "My stop's coming up. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep, tomorrow," Ria cheerily agreed.

-

_Later, in Cal's apartment..._

Adria set down her study bag. "Thanks for having me over, Calvin. I don't want Morgan to worry."

"It's no trouble, Adria. But you should tell Morgan. She'll figure it out regardless."

"I know, but I don't like talking about it."

"No one wants to discuss their weaknesses," Cal wisely stated as he picked up a bowl of fruit. "Want a snack?"

"Sure; thanks." Adria picked a shiny red apple and crunched down on it, taking a juicy bit without using her hands. "But it's not a case of weakness, but of far too much power."

Cal shook his head as he began to peel an orange. "It's not the power that's the problem, it's controlling the power, and not letting it control you. That's what takes real strength."

"How do I gain such strength?" Adria asked between nibbles of her apple.

"Practice. As you use your abilities more in a controlled way, you'll find it easier to stop yourself from using them when it is not appropriate." Cal briefly stopped to pop a segment of orange in his mouth. "And perhaps if you release some of the power, there will be less pressure to let it out at other times. Like a safety valve on a… sorry, bad example."

Adria gave a slight smile. "I see what you mean. But how to you suggest I practice?"

Cal grinned. "We spar!"

Adria's eyes widened dramatically. "But you'll be hurt. Badly!"

The response from Cal was a shrug. "So? I can practice controlling my healing nanites. You won't hurt me much, and not for long."

"Oh, that is a good point. I am willing to try if you are," Adria offered.

"Great!" Cal enthused as he collected his bits of orange peel. "The best part is that I can teach to properly fight hand-to-hand. You can learn how to use your abilities to enhance your fighting, both secretly and obviously, depending on whether or not you want to fight without revealing your… special nature. And I can teach you how to disable people without injuring them badly."

Adria looked positively excited. "I'd love to have you teach me those things! When can we start?" She watched as Cal opened a bin to dispose of his peel, and mentally sent her apple core to join it.

"Not today – I need to buy a gym mat, and you'll need the right clothes. Perhaps we can start tomorrow evening?" he suggested.

"Sounds fine," Adria agreed. "Morgan is happy for me to visit you as much as I like. But I still have to get through school tomorrow without… hurting anyone," she worried.

"That shouldn't be a problem. There are other ways to burn off some excess energy."

"Really? Such as what?"

Cal grinned. "Cooking."

"Cooking what?"

"Easy. We bake a cake. I do the instructing, you do the mixing and the heating, and we both do the tasting. Interested?"

"Yes," Adria firmly declared.

"Great, I'll find you an apron." Cal headed for the last place he remembered seeing one.

"I don't think I'll need a…"

Calvin quickly cut her off. "Yes you will. I don't care what superpowers you have: you'll want the apron."


	18. Mental Mixing

Anonymous review reply: Athena: Thanks, but actually you do, just not in the previous chapter. Sneaky, aren't I?

Chapter 18 – Mental Mixing

"Now that we both have aprons, let's get started. First, we'll need a mixing bowl. There's a good one down in that cupboard." Cal pointed and Adria moved to open the door. "No, not like that. This is a hands-off baking session."

Adria could not quite believe what she was hearing. "You want me to do _everything _with my mind?"

"Sure. If you can't make a cake, I don't want to be sparring with you."

"Is that rule for me, or everyone?" Adria wondered as she mentally eased open the door and lifted the mixing bowl to the level of the countertop.

"Just you - there are people I'd rather spar with than try in the kitchen. I mean, people Jack knows."

"Oh, I didn't mean to bring that up."

"Not your fault. Moving on... the pantry's over here. We'll need flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, and a pinch of salt from the pantry. Oh, and a spot of pepper."

"Pepper?" Adria questioned dubiously as she floated the flour and sugar to the counter.

"Adds an exciting touch of zing," Cal explained.

"Zing," Adria repeated flatly. She was the epitome of the absence of 'zing'.

"Yes, zing. Zing!" Cal demonstrated loudly.

Adria looked at him strangely. "If you say so." The salt and pepper shakers dropped into place beside the other ingredients.

"Never mind," Cal resigned. "Next you'll need to measure out quantities. Measures are in the top left drawer. There's a wooden spoon in the right drawer."

Adria dutifully floated the needed items into position, and began dipping measuring cups and spoons into the containers of appropriate ingredients, according to Cal's instructions. "Are these truly the ingredients for a cake?" she wondered.

"Yep. None of them are particularly scrumptious on their own. Now, mix carefully."

"Scrumptious?" Adria questioned as the dry ingredients began swirling in the mixing bowl.

"Your vocabulary still needs work," Cal commented. "But you've got a great mixing technique. I forgot you didn't need the spoon. Is that hard to do?"

"No," Adria answered as she continued swirling the dry ingredients. "But I do need to be careful to avoid cracking the bowl."

The possibilities of a messy disaster worried Cal, but he chose to trust that Adria knew what she was doing. "I... see. Now you need to get some things out of the fridge. Milk will be easy, but eggs may be a challenge. Then you'll need to melt some butter. That may be hard, until you melt it," he punned.

"That was a joke," Adria correctly diagnosed.

"Yes. You're supposed to laugh at those," Cal instructed.

"Only if they're funny. That wasn't."

"Oh. You're right," Cal grudgingly admitted. "So, milk."

The milk was poured without incident. Eggs took a little practice. It was fortunate Adria was able to find and remove pieces of shell which had joined the edible components. The butter required careful consideration and concentration, but it did not take Adria long to melt it down to a liquid, and she avoided burning any objects in the process. Cal's hand was not counted, as it was caused as a side effect of picking up a metal spoon he had left nearby, at because it healed immediately.

After another turn at mixing, and after pouring the mixture into a prepared cake pan, the chocolate cake was ready for baking. "This is a critical stage," Cal explained. "You'll need to keep the oven temperature consistent and high, so the cake cooks evenly and doesn't burn. Fortunately my oven has a digital thermometer, so you will be able to gauge the overall temperature."

Adria nodded as she floated the pan into the oven, giving it an extra twist in apparent carelessness. "We want it baked, not fried," she mused.

Cal grinned. "You certainly catch on quickly. If you'll close the oven door, I'll pull up a couple of chairs. The downside of doing the cooking yourself is that you can't leave the oven on a timer."

"Does that mean we're stuck watching the oven until the cooking is complete?" Adria asked as the oven slammed shut a little too hard.

Cal positioned the chairs and answered, "Once you have a feel for the amount of power you need to apply to keep the right temperature, I'm sure we can talk while we wait."

"What do you want to talk about?" Adria inquired as she considered the most effective and safe regions of the oven for flame generation.

"I think we should work on our plans for saving Janet," Cal suggested.

"Excellent suggestion," Adria agreed as she willed the first tongues of fire into existence.


	19. Frosting and Scheming

Chapter 19 - Frosting and Scheming

The incessant sound of an electronic cuckoo indicated the end of the baking session. Cal picked up the digital timer and switched it off as Adria relaxed her mind and allowed the flames to dissipate. She slowly drew open the oven door, releasing streams of hot air and a pleasant chocolaty aroma. "Mmm! What do I do next?" she asked her mentor.

"Next, you test whether it's cooked through properly. Cake tester is in the second drawer. It's a metal skewer you stick into the middle of the cake. If it's cooked properly, nothing should stick to it," Cal explained, motioning to the drawer.

Adria stood up from her chair so she could see into the drawer after she pulled it open. Moments later, the cake tester whistled through the air and impaled the centre of the cake. "Like that?" she asked mischievously.

Cal looked a little disturbed. "Uh, you might dent the pan doing that. Or _me_," he stressed.

"Might? That implies an element of chance. I don't leave anything to chance," Adria declared, chasing away an unbidden memory involving smashed eggs and a flaming cucumber.

In response, Cal shook his head and reminded her, "Accidents happen. You can never control _everything_."

"That's what the Ori wanted. What they made me want," she quietly admitted.

"Yes, well that's all in the future now. How's the cake?"

Adria's thoughts quickly returned to the infinitely more pleasant subject at hand. "It's fine," she reported after removing the metal implement.

"_Ex_cellent! Now you can turn it out onto a cooling tray. While it cools, we mix the frosting."

"_I_ mix the frosting," Adria corrected. "You simply wish to taste it."

"Fine. You mix the frosting, I taste it."

"I don't think so," the incredibly powerful girl answered, her voice taking on a dangerous edge.

Cal raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'll wait until the cake's finished."

"Yes, you will," Adria agreed solemnly. Her penetrating gaze met Cal's worried look for several seconds before her face broke into a teasing grin. "What ingredients do we need?" she asked as she floated a clean mixing bowl onto the counter top.

Realising that his new friend's threatening manner had been an act, Cal protested, "Hey, that wasn't very nice."

"Frosting is serious business," Adria smirked.

-

_Several fingers smacked by a flying spatula later..._

"It's a good thing I wore an apron," Adria mused.

"I told you you'd need it," Cal agreed. "It'll need a wash. You really shouldn't have been waving that spatula about."

"Hey, you're the one who couldn't keep his fingers to himself!"

"And you're the one who was making frosting right next to me!" Cal argued, employing thoroughly unsound logic.

"So that makes it my fault? Wasn't this your idea?"

"Yes, but I clearly remember saying that we _both _do the tasting," he reminded.

"I interpreted that as meaning _after _the cake was complete. If you must eat some frosting that is not on the cake, you can clean out the bowl."

"You'd let me do that?"

"Provided you wash all the dishes," Adria added.

"Oh. Fine. But you dry. And fire is disallowed."

Adria sighed dramatically. "Fine, but we eat some first." She eyed the fresh chocolate cake and wondered, "How are we going to eat all this?"

"Er... maybe we'll need help. I could give some to the Frasiers, to thank them for dinner last week, if that's okay with you."

"Of course," Adria agreed. Deciding it was high time to try the cake, she summoned a clean cake knife and began to cut two slices.

"On the other hand, I could just eat it all. My nanite things should take care of any 'side effects'."

"I wish I could do that," Adria mused as she floated her cake up to her mouth. "I can heal others, but controlling my own metabolism isn't one of my talents." She looked like she had more to say on the topic, but trying the cake took precedence. She chewed for a few seconds before exclaiming, "Fantastic! My first time cooking a cake and it's delicious!"

Cal looked somewhat uncomfortable about the situation. "Um... Adria?"

"Hm?" she asked through her second large bite.

"Do you mind... holding you cake? I know you don't need to, but... seeing you eating cake that's just floating in front of your face is a bit..."

"Weird? Alien?"

"Well... it's just a bit distracting, is all."

Adria put her hand around the cake and took another large bite. "Better?" she asked as she licked a stray bit of frosting off her lips.

"Uh, never mind. So... I was thinking about the plan."

"You mean the crazy 'saving Doctor Janet' plan?"

Cal sighed. "It's not crazy. Relatively speaking." As he waited for Adria's response, he took another bit of the glorious cake.

"You have a point there," Adria replied after a few moments' thought. "But it will be very difficult for you to achieve without harming her, or yourself, or being discovered."

"I know, but it's the best thing we could come up with. If we obviously disrupt the course of events, someone else could get killed, and I don't want to be responsible for that."

"Yes, you've made that very clear, and I've made it very clear that I agree. Can we move on from that point?" Adria was a little annoyed, as that point had been done to death earlier.

"Sorry, I was just underlining that I'm willing to make this plan work, because it shouldn't risk anyone besides the Doc and myself."

"If it fails badly soon enough, it would greatly impact the outcome of the other personnel involved in the ambush," Adria pointed out.

"In theory, that could happen. That's why I plan to ensure that it doesn't. After I make sure it's possible, that is."

"And if it isn't?"

"I really doubt that, but if I can't pull it off, we find a new plan."

"What about my..."

"No," Cal cut in. "Disguising yourself as a member of SG-13 so you can protect Janet will just lead to you getting caught. I guarantee it. And that will lead to..."

"Awkward questions, I know."

"And corruption of the timeline once they meet... the 'other' you."

"Yes, yes, I've heard it. But I think I can succeed."

"I don't think that's realistic. SG-1 figured you out last time you tried it, and you were disguised as a complete stranger. Pretending to be someone familiar... nope, you'll be discovered in minutes."

"Alright, we'll find another plan."

"If we need one."

"Yes," Adria agreed, calming herself somewhat. "We'll discuss this tomorrow. I should really get going."

"Yeah, time is getting away. I'll get you a container so you can take some cake with you."

Adria smiled. "Thank you. Are we on for sparring tomorrow?"

"We'll start with the basics first. No actual fighting on the first day. Hey, did the cooking help with your power levels?" he wondered.

"I think I should be able to make it through school tomorrow without blowing up. Thanks."

"We'll see how well it actually works." Cal handed over a plastic container with a generous portion of cake inside. "Remember, you'll need the right clothes for the training. I'm sure Morgan can help you out with that."

"I'll be fine," Adria declared. She accepted the cake and began making her way to the front door.

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," she echoed as the door seemed to open by itself.

"Hey, what about the dishes?"

The door shut itself. Cal sighed and returned to the kitchen.

-

Author's Notes:

I had originally made Adria able to control her metabolism and heal herself and such, but I realised that it didn't fit with the whole 'dying of Ba'al poisoning' thing. I was going to explain my way around it with handwaving and escuses, but ultimately decided that this way is better for various reasons.

Oh, and the reason Adria got away without helping with the dishes is mainly because I temporarily forgot about them (like Cal did) and decided it would be more fun to do it this way. Plus I only had to add two sentences to the end rather than multiple paragraps which would greatly change the flow of the conversation.

I hope you all enjoyed this long-awaited chapter - ED

P.S. Does anyone know where I can get an escape-proof muse cage and an anti-procrastination ray?


	20. Diary Interlude A

Chapter 20 - Diary Interlude A

_The Diary of Adria Peace Mal Doran – Day Two_

Again I reflect on my experiences by putting them to paper. I feel that seeing them before me will help me better understand my new life.

Today was a frightening day for me. I lost control of my power again and harmed another child. This one too was antagonising me. I threw him against a wall and his neck was snapped. I was able to heal him immediately and none suspect the truth. I was relieved that I did not permanently end his life, but came close to giving up hope of safely interacting with humans. It is their own safety I worry about. I do not fear for my own safety, only my sanity if I were forced to defend myself. If humans discovered what I am, I know there would be a great slaughter. Morgan and Calvin would then be forced to turn against me.

Calvin. In a way, he has saved me. He has suggested that I find ways to safely release my power so it does not become too much to control. Today, I baked a cake. The continued use of my powers with careful control has served to drain much of the excess. Tomorrow morning before school I shall burn off some more. (I believe that in the previous sentence I formed a pun.) I expect that with care I will be able to avoid causing any further harm to the humans around me.

Baking a cake was a new and enjoyable experience. As the Orici, servants performed all domestic work necessary for my sustenance. With Morgan, I have prepared some food, but she has not done so herself for many thousands of years. Calvin has the memories of many years, and is a patient teacher. Tomorrow, he will begin teaching me to fight. This will be of great benefit, as I should learn how to disable opponents temporarily. Killing and resurrecting weighs heavily upon me, because it is what the Orici did. As the Orici, choice was taken away from me. Now, I must choose for myself, but it is hard to choose differently.

Just as I do, Calvin too has the memory of a life he did not live and choices he did not make. I believe he wishes to use what he has learned from the mistakes in his previous life to help him better live his new one. I hope I can achieve the same by following his example. He has the benefit of a far better example than I have. Also, he has experienced an actual childhood, while mine was over in mere hours. Maybe he will be willing to tell me about his inherited experiences of 'growing up'.

I am especially anticipating tomorrow's fighting lesson, which Calvin has promised. Such lessons will also help train me to control myself and my powers. As evidenced by today's cooking lesson, Calvin is a good teacher. I enjoy his company. Also, I shall shop for a suitable outfit.. As Calvin has many years of fighting experience and the ability to rapidly recover from any injury, while I will initially be fighting without any of my superhuman powers, I must take every advantage available. This means I shall 'dress to kill' – a metaphor which is also a poor choice of words. I actually mean that my choice of clothing should assist in directing Calvin's attention away from the fight. The humans on Earth have a long-standing habit of wrapping complex ideas into simple phrases which can only be understood with the help large mental leaps, proper context, or both. I have found I enjoy using and applying these. It is however difficult to eschew formal speech patterns. At least I don't go around chanting 'Hallowed are the Ori'. It's no small wonder that the SCG refused to even consider Origin – it's completely dull, apart from me of course. And now I'm so far off topic that I had better start a new paragraph.

I wonder what use my 'special abilities' may be to me. They give me extreme power, but must remain hidden from the inhabitants of this planet. I wish to put them to some good use. Once I have learned sufficient life lessons from High School, I think my path will lead me away from this world. To remain here is to remain in a cage, though there is plenty to explore and investigate within the cage in the meantime. Having Calvin to talk to helps significantly, because he is in a similar position: he has inherited a feeling of responsibility for the safety of the planet, and is aware of the threats to it. Morgan does her best to guide me, but I sense she simply wants to 'settle down'. Her nature makes it easy for her to accept that we must avoid making significant contributions to the timeline as much as possible.

On the topic of the timeline, Calvin has formed a plan for preventing the death of Doctor Janet Frasier. I am worried because of the inherent risk in the process. If he had a reasonable way to test it, I would feel more at ease. Perhaps he can test it on me. I'll consider that idea further tomorrow. It's time for sleep now, so I'll stop writing until it's time to report on my first combat training lesson.

I really hope Maria doesn't find out about those lessons. It would be difficult to truthfully explain, and I really prefer to avoid lying to her.

Anticipating a better day at school and a new good experience with Calvin,

Adria Peace Mal Doran


End file.
